Specialists in Thermal Analytical Technologies, particularly Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) and Dielectric Thermal Analysis (DETA)

GLYNN VAN-DE-VELDE - OBITUARY

Following the untimely death of Glynn Van-de-Velde over Easter, all of us here at Lacerta Technology, formerly Triton Technology, would like to say how devastated we are to have lost such a valued colleague. Glynn played a pivotal role in the advancement of our company and its unique instrumentation. He was the main instigator of the Humidity Controlled DMA and many other novel developments. He was solely responsible for the set-up of our worldwide sales organisation.

More importantly, he was a close friend of all who worked at Lacerta and was well known amongst our distributors and customers, all of whom we counted as personal friends. Glynn and I especially enjoyed many trips together visiting our community, discussing Thermal Analysis, DMA and beer in roughly equal proportions.

Trained as an analytical chemist, Glynn brought a wide range of skills as well as boundless enthusiasm to solving customers' problems. He complemented the skill set (Marketing, Sales and Analytical Science) of John Fisher (Electronics, Mechanics & Production), Keith Pettitt (Electronics, Mechanics & MBA) and me (Materials Science), which was one of the reasons for the company's success. I have fond memories of our time spent in my cold garage, making the first prototypes of the identiPol device before we had formed the company.

Glynn was a great animal lover and together with his wife Jackie provided a secure and loving home to many dogs including ones they had rescued. Other animals included rats, a favourite of Glynn's, snakes, guinea pigs, rabbits, snails and more recently a small cat.

Glynn was highly creative as evidenced by his manufacture of gas chromatography detectors, a wonderful hand-made guitar and most recently the renovation of an old Mini. His home and garden are full of his and Jackie's handiwork, including a stone wall and seat providing a perfect mooring site on the canal. He was also an avid fan of all music, especially folk and the Morris.

Amongst his numerous careers, one of the most novel was the task of rediscovering the recipe for the tobacco paste used by a Saudi company in its Hubble-Bubble hooker pipes. He alternated between Saudi and India, and truly loved India. His was by far the most adventurous career break amongst the four founders of Triton Technology, in what we called the "Wilderness Years" before we started trading.

Shortly before his retirement from Lacerta, Glynn and Jackie moved to a house on the Canal at Zouch. This provided Glynn with the ideal opportunity to become captain of a canal boat, named "Noggin-the Nog" after that famous story of the same name set in "the cold, dark, North".

Glynn returned to Lacerta part-time in the last year, to help me run and promote our Analytical services, where he made a valuable contribution. We shall all miss him, along with colleagues at the Thermal Methods Group, where he served for many years and made an enormous contribution. We were delighted when they confirmed their intention to hold a commemorative lecture at the next TAC conference in April 2021.

Glynn leaves a wife, four daughters, three grandchildren and one sister.

John Duncan
16 April 2020