Vale – Prof. John Swaffield, a great Scot
John Swaffield recently retired as the full time head of the School of the Built Environment at Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh. It was here that John forged an enviable reputation in the field of fluid mechanics. He was a noted author of many academic books and papers on the subjects of building drainage and water conservation.
As an industry consultant John had a major influence on the development of the sanitary fixture market globally. He was also a great teacher and brilliant researcher.
John served as President of the prestigious CIBSE (Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers) in 2008/9 – and it will likely be a long time before an academic ‘plumber’ like John leads such an organisation again.
John also had a close business and personal attachment to Australia. He loved the Aussie way and our sense of humour.
One person who has worked closely with John over the past 20 years is Dr Steve Cummings, Caroma’s product development chief.
“John was a mentor to me, the visionary who inspired us to develop global-leading solutions based around product performance and water conservation. From the academic and theory side, he was responsible for the development of our reduced flush technologies, his views on water conservation were far ahead of it becoming as important as it is today. The plumbing industry owes much to John, he will be sorely missed.”
Past president of the National AHSCA, Don Boynton fondly remembers meeting and dining with John two years ago. “It was something I’d always wanted to do and when the opportunity presented itself, the man was so down to earth. He had such a deep understanding of the science of plumbing and was so willing to share and communicate with everyone – I even had him sign one of my text books he had authored.”
John Swaffield FRSE, BSc, MPhil, PhD, CEng, MRAeS, FCIWEM, FCIBSE, a good mate of the Australian plumbing industry died in February from a heart attack.