Former EESG Board member Bob Beith passes away

Bob Beith CEng FIMechE FIMarineE, former member of the Board of the EESG and Power Industries Division, died just before Christmas after a fairly short period of treatment for throat cancer. His funeral was on 10 January.

Following a degree in Mechanical Sciences Tripos at Cambridge and National Service in the Royal Navy, Bob joined Foster Wheeler Power and Process Division in 1956, where he worked on designing and developing key components of the first naval nuclear submarine. He became R&D manager in support of the extensive UK  coal, gas and waste heat  power plant build.

In 1978 Bob was appointed FWPP Director spearheading new technology and new business in the environmental and energy field such as gasification and pyrolysis. He was Director responsible for the Nuclear Division and Quality Assurance, setting up three subsidiaries. He sat on the  Department of Trade and Industry's Power Plant Committee.

In 1988 Bob became MD of Best Global Limited, consultants in engineering environmental clean-up systems and also worked with the British Marine Technology development team.

For many years Bob was a member of the Board of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers “Environmental Committee”, which became the “Energy, Environment and Sustainability Group” in 2001, where he helped on issues such as Distributed Energy Systems. He was a valued member of the Board, always ready to share his experience with a wise, supportive and positive contribution. More recently he became a member of the Power Industries Division Board and co-authored Energy Policy paper EP 11/02.

We send Margaret, his wife, our condolences.