Alastair Pilkington facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alastair Pilkington
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| Born | 7 January 1920 Calcutta, India
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| Died | 5 May 1995 |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Engineering career | |
| Significant advance | float glass process |
Sir Alastair Pilkington (born 7 January 1920 – died 5 May 1995) was a brilliant British engineer and businessman. He is famous for inventing and perfecting the float glass process. This new method made it much easier and cheaper to create high-quality flat glass for windows and other uses.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Alastair Pilkington was born on January 7, 1920, in Calcutta, India. His parents were Colonel Lionel George Pilkington and Evelyn Carnegie Bethune. He went to Sherborne School and then Trinity College, Cambridge.
His studies were stopped when World War II began. He joined the Royal Artillery and was captured during the Battle of Crete. He spent four years as a prisoner of war in Germany. After the war, he returned to university. He earned a degree in mechanical science. In 1947, he started working as a technical officer for Pilkington Brothers. This was a big glass manufacturing company. Even though he worked for them, he was not related to the Pilkington family who owned the business.
Inventing Float Glass
The Big Idea
In 1952, Sir Alastair Pilkington came up with the idea for the float glass process. Imagine melted glass floating on a bed of liquid tin. This made the glass super smooth and perfectly flat. Before this, making flat glass was very expensive and difficult.
Making it Work
Sir Alastair and his colleague, Kenneth Bickerstaff, worked for seven years to make this process perfect. They also got patents for their invention. Many inventors before them had tried to find a better way to make glass, but they hadn't succeeded.
On January 20, 1959, the world learned about Pilkington's amazing breakthrough. His invention changed how flat glass was made forever. It helped Pilkington Brothers become a leader in the world market for high-quality flat glass for many years. Starting in the early 1960s, glass makers all over the world paid to use his float glass process.
Leading the Company
Sir Alastair became the technical director of Pilkington Brothers in 1955. He later became deputy chairman in 1971. From 1973 until his retirement in 1980, he was the chairman of the company. He left the board in 1985. For the rest of his life, he was the company's president.
Awards and Other Roles
Honours and Recognition
Sir Alastair Pilkington received many important awards for his work. In 1969, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very high honor for scientists. In 1970, he was made a Knight Bachelor, which means he could use "Sir" before his name. He also received the Wilhelm Exner Medal that year. In 1978, he was given the A. A. Griffith Medal and Prize. From 1983 to 1984, he was the president of the British Science Association.
Beyond Glassmaking
Sir Alastair also held important positions outside of the glass industry. He was a director of the Bank of England from 1974 to 1984. He also served as a director for BP, a large energy company, from 1976 until his death.
He strongly believed in the importance of higher education. He was Pro-Chancellor of Lancaster University from 1980 to 1990. He also led a campaign for the University and Colleges of Cambridge. From 1994 until he passed away, he was the Chancellor of the University of Liverpool. He also chaired the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) from 1983 to 1987.
Pilkington Awards
Sir Alastair Pilkington also helped future students. In 1985, he donated money to create the Pilkington Awards at Lancaster University. These awards give money to students studying chemistry, computing, engineering, or physics. The University of Liverpool also has annual Sir Alastair Pilkington Awards. These awards honor staff members for their great contributions to student learning.
A building at the University of Liverpool was named after him for many years. A reading room in Lancaster University's library is still named in his honor.
Family Life
In 1945, Sir Alastair married Patricia Nicholls Elliott in London. She was a former officer in the Women's Royal Naval Service. They had one daughter and an adopted son. After Patricia passed away, he married Leila Kathleen Wilson in 1978.
