When he joined TWI four decades ago the names of Kruschev, Kennedy, Wilson, and the Beatles filled the tabloids and broadsheets alike. He was a twenty two year old metallurgy graduate of the Royal School of Mines at Imperial College, with a passing interest in welding and metallic materials. Today, half a dozen prime ministers later, the Technology Manager of Metallurgy, Corrosion, Arc Welding and Surfacing, author of 80 papers and countless reports, is surrendering the world of materials for that of gardening. TWI bids farewell to Peter Hart.
'Originally I had my sights set on chemistry. But the University selection people wanted a second choice. My flat mate suggested metallurgy' he now recalls with a wry smile. 'I didn't even know how to spell it.'
'I came to the British Welding and Research Association straight from university after an amiable interview with the materials luminaries of the day, Bob Baker, John Young and Peter Houldcroft' he muses. 'I didn't know a thing about welding in the same way that I hadn't known a thing about metallurgy before university. It was great fun, and has been all along, but it was a different kind of fun in those days, and of course a hugely different pace.'
Memories of his first major failure investigation still carry a particular resonance. It involved a huge southern Iranian gas treatment plant which exploded and caught fire killing twenty people. It was just before Christmas. No one wanted to go.
'So I was booted off for two weeks' recalls Peter. 'It was a terrific experience, and of course the subsequent trips to the States followed as part of the failure investigation...a real baptism of fire, and that rapid response work has always been a very important part of this team's activity.'
Early in Peter's career he moved from non-ferrous to ferrous materials and became involved in pipe welding. It's this work, and his renowned efforts on structural steels, which has led to his chairing several BSI committees. The early days also lacked some of the basic tools so important to his department's work today. Not least of these has been the advent of the scanning electron microscope.
Over four decades the group's work has largely centred around understanding the causes of weldability problems, particularly in the field of structural steels. This knowledge has been fed back into the steel making industry, which in response, has improved its products. Gradually a large number of weldability problems that were studied in the sixties and seventies have faded away.
'But not always' he stresses. 'Occasionally the same problems recur because lessons have not been learnt. Only within the last month we've been looking at the problems of cracking in the girth weld of a pipeline. I was able to pull out a photograph that I took in the late sixties of exactly the same thing caused by exactly the same malpractice.'
Pressed for his enduring memories of The Welding Institute in its various incarnations, first as the BWRA and now as TWI Ltd, Peter relates strongly to a sense of fascination; 'Fascinating people, fascinating projects, a fascinating place to work...and always changing. When I came we really only covered arc welding and resistance welding. Electron beam welding was just starting. There was no laser department and I don't recall anything serious being done on friction welding. With time we learnt to broaden our support to other processes and of course non-metals... plastics, adhesive bonding, ceramics'
Described variously by close colleagues as a workaholic with exceptionally high standards and always able to lead by example, Peter is now heralded as one of the leading authorities in the field of ferrous materials. Tributes include 'Knowledgeable, astute without being opinionated...highly experienced but forward looking...a manager with a very human face.'
Retirement brings time for Peter to pursue lifelong interests in music, cycling, cookery and travel. But most importantly he plans to combine his huge interest in the world of horticulture, particularly vegetable production, with his fascination with meteorology. The two come together in the acre of garden of his new home which now looks likely to demand his undivided attention in retirement.
Peter's departure has provoked a small restructuring at TWI. His field is now headed by Dr Paul Woollin.
