Emeritus Professor Worner pictured at the official opening of his collection with the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Peter Robinson (centre) and Vice-Principal (International) and Managing Director of ITC, Mr Jim Langridge.
Emeritus Professor Worner pictured at the official opening of his collection
with the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Peter Robinson (centre) and Vice-Principal
(International) and Managing Director of ITC, Mr Jim Langridge.
The first stage of a rare collection of mineral and rock samples, the Howard
Worner Collection, was officially opened on 7 September in the main foyer of
the Sciences Building.
Emeritus Professor Howard Worner, has donated his collection (started in 1932) to UOW which consists of about 1,000 mineral and rock samples. predominantly containing Australian specimens, the collection includes samples from all over the world with significant contributions from Mexico and Chile. The first stage involves about 650 pieces going on permanent display.
Historically significant specimens include those from Sir Laurence Mawby and Sir Douglas Mawson.
Two UOW staff who played a key role in assembling and displaying the collection are Dr Paul Carr and Mrs Penny Williamson from the School of Geosciences.
Dr Carr described the collection as being "scientifically, historically and aesthetically valuable".
The collection also includes the various awards bestowed upon Professor Worner who still does occasional work for ITC as a Scientific Adviser aged 87. It was in 1986 that Professor Worner was invited by UOW to take up a position as Director of ITC's Microwave Applications Research Centre.
From the late 1930s and early 1940s when he was considered the leading world authority in scientific study of dental and surgical materials (work that led to the Australian Dental Standards Bureau), through to extensive investigation into iron smelting and casting, his work has been at the forefront of Australian and international development.
Without slowing down at all, Professor Worner developed a way to convert steelworks waste dust and sewage into usable iron compounds early in the 1990s.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Peter Robinson and the Vice-Principal (International) and Managing Director of ITC, Mr Jim Langridge, reminisced of their long-term associations with Professor Worner.
Professor Robinson described Professor Worner as a "true icon of Australian metallurgy and materials science" pointing out that he has mentored generations of metallurgists.
Dr Paul Carr and Mrs Penny Williamson who helped assemble and set up the rare
collection of mineral and rock samples are pictured with Emeritus Professor
Worner.