Person

McWilliam, Ian Gordon (1933 - 2020)

AO

Born
4 November 1933
Griffith, New South Wales, Australia
Died
9 May 2020
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Occupation
Physicist

Summary

Ian Gordon McWilliam developed a flame ionisation detector in 1957; this was a new gas chromatography tool capable of measuring components of organic chemicals present in one part in 10 million.

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Details

Chronology

1952
Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc(Hons)), University of Melbourne
1956 - 1968
Career position - Head, Physical Methods Section (later Instrument Development Section), ICI Central Research Laboratories
1961
Award - Rennie Memorial Medal, Royal Australian Chemical Institute
1962
Award - Grimwade Prize in Industrial Chemistry (jointly with Robert Dewar), Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne
1968 - 1970
Career position - Shell Research Fellow, Monash University
1970 - 1973
Career position - Senior Lecturer, Swinburne Technical College
1970 - 2020
Award - Fellow, Royal Australian Chemical Institute
1973 - 1992
Career position - Principal Lecturer in Chemistry, Swinburne Technical College
1974
Education - Doctor of Science (DSc), Monash University
1983 - 1986
Career position - Chairman, Australian Scientific Industry Association, Victoria
1984
Award - Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for ervice to science and technology
1992
Award - K. L. Sutherland Memorial Medal, Australian Academy of Technological Science and Technology
1992 - 1998?
Career position - Associate Professor in chemistry, Swinburne University of Technology

Related Corporate Bodies

Published resources

Conference Papers

  • McWilliam, I.G., 'The Flame Ionization Detector - an Australian Invention', in Detectors and Chromatography Proceedings of an International Conference held at the University of Melbourne from May 30 to June 3 1983, to celebrate the 25thanniversary of the invention of the Flame Ionization Detector by I.G. McWilliam edited by Nicholson, A.J.C. (Melbourne: Australian Scientific Industry Association, 1983), pp. 5-20.. Details

Edited Books

  • Gold, Ergad; Greener, Rosalie (Ed) ed., Inventive Vics Exhibition (Melbourne, Victoria: Australian Scientific Industry Association, 1985), 58 pp. Flame Ionization Detector. Details

Journal Articles

  • Ettre, Leslie S., 'The invention, development, and triumph of the flame ionization detector', LcGc North America, 20 (1) (2002), 49-60. Details
  • McWilliam, I. G.; and Dewar, R. A., 'Flame ionization detector for gas chromatography', Nature, 181 (4611) (1958), 760, https://doi.org/10.1038/181760a0. Details
  • Spurling, Tom; and Laslett, Bob, 'Ian McWilliam (1933 - 2020): inventor of the flame ionisation detector', Chemistry in Australia, 2020 (July/August) (2020), 34. Details

Resources

See also

Rosanne Walker and Helen Cohn

Created: 25 May 2001, Last modified: 8 April 2022

EOAS ID: biogs/P003773b.htm

This Edition: 2026 February - 1926 Centenaries
Kooyang - Gariwerd calendar - Late summer: late January to late March - season of eels
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