| Monty Hyams (1918-2013): Patent Information Pioneer | home | intro | derwent | personal | downloads | links |
The stroke of luck that changed my career (handwritten memoir)
In 1947, at the age of 29 I got a job as a
research chemist
with the Pyrene Company on the Great West Road, near London Airport, at
a
salary of £350 per year. 
The Pyrene Company, famous for its fire
extinguishers, had
several other interests -- including a Metal Finishing Division, to
which I was
assigned. The main activity of this Division was the supply of
chemicals for
the rustproofing of car bodies prior to paint spraying. The process,
known as
Bonderizing, consisted of immersing the whole car body in a hot
solution of
mainly phosphoric acid and zinc nitrate, so as to deposit a protective
coating
of zinc phosphate. Current practice at the time was to add
nitroguanidine as an
'accelerator' of the process -- my task was to find a cheaper and more
efficient substitute for nitroguanidine.
I reported to an outside consultant, Dr
Johnson, a likeable
academic specialising in electrochemistry. He had managed to convince
the
Pyrene management that the problem should be tackled in a scientific
manner by
recording the changes in electromotive force at the surface being
treated -- at
different pH, temperatures and phosphate concentrations in the presence
of
different 'accelerators.'
.........Just as the research was coming
to an end, I had an amazing
stroke of luck, destined to change my whole career.
The Pyrene Company had for some time
entered a team of four
in a local duplicate bridge business-to-business league. The team
consisted of
the Financial Director partnered by the Chief Shop Steward, and me,
partnered
by the Patents Manager -- quite a motley crew. Unfortunately for him,
my bridge
partner developed thrombosis and was forced to seek early retirement
from the
company. Fortunately he named me, his bridge partner, as successor,
particularly since I had been involved in a number of patent
applications.
Immediately
my whole outlook on life had been transformed.
Not only was I freed form the drudgery of the laboratory bench, but I
was
introduced to the wonderful world of patents at management level.
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