J and E Hall Gold Medal

Nominations for 2010 are now open for this internationally respected award recognises the most noteworthy practical contribution to the field of refrigeration.  It was been sponsored by J&E Hall consistently for 33 years with a prize award of £5,000. Nominations must be received by 1st September 2010. Read on for details of past winners, rules and judging criteria are shown below.

Download the nomination form here. 

Previous Award Winners

2009 – JURGEN SEUSS for his achievements in carbon dioxide compressor development and application in light commercial refrigeration. This includes the development of the TN Compressor which has a matching control device – a technology which has achieved significant practical application in bottle coolers, vending machines, display ccases and high efficiency domestic hot water heat pumps.

2008 - RON CONRY designed from scratch a compressor that would meet all of the industries needs for the future - high efficiency, operating at high speed, oil free, light weight, quiet, without vibration, and fully integrated and cost competitive.   To date over 10,000 Turbocor compressors are now in operation worldwide and he continues to develop this technology to achieve even further efficiencies and new models.  The Judges made this award to Ron Conry of Turbocor for his achievement in seeing this vision through to realisation of the Turbocor compressor.

2007 - PROF JOHN THOME of the Laboratory of Heat and Mass Transfer, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland.The 2008 award went to an individual who has carried out wide ranging work on two-phase flow and heat transfer of refrigerants as well as original work on the development of micro evaporation cooling systems, which have practical applications in low

2006 - Dr ANDY PEARSON of Star Refrigeration for his work on the practical development of safe and relatively uncomplicated application of carbon dioxide to both commercial and industrial systems, enhanced through detailed examination of supercritical heat transfer behaviour, plate heat exchanger design, system component application and system design specific to carbon dioxide.

2005 - PROF IAN EAMES for his work on  for his work on the application of jet pump cycle technology to substantially improve the performance of standard absorption refrigeration methods leading to enhanced COPs and reduced system costs and resulting in commercial manufacturing acceptance

2004 - PROF CLARK BULLARD As a Professor at the University of Illinois, USA, Dr Bullard has carried out wide ranging, original work using simulation models to develop improved systems for refrigeration and air conditioning, influencing the design of heat exchangers, evaporators, condensers, accumulators and compressors. 

2003 - DR RAKESH AGRAWAL Dr Agrawal has carried out outstanding work in the field of cryogenic air separation technology for gas liquefaction systems.  He is the holder or co-holder of 116 US Patents, (102 of them in Cryogenics) and over 300 foreign patents.  He has made truly extraordinary contributions to the development of gas liquefaction and cryogenic separation technologies.

2002 - PROF ALBERTO CAVALLINI Throughout his career, the research of Dr Cavellini has always been broad, ranging over several topics related to heat transfer, refrigerants and AC&R equipment, engineering thermodynamics and applied acoustics.  However his work on condensation heat transfer and pressure drop with refrigerants has been his core research activity.

Previous winners - 2001 - DR D DIDION; 2000 - DR AC CLELAND; 1999 - MR M LAWRENCE; 1998 - DR R RADEBAUGH; 1997 - NORMALAIR-GARRETT LTD, UK; 1996 - MR S SUNDARESAN; 1995 - DR J PAUL AND MR E JAHN; 1994 - DR A FUTAKAWA; 1993 - DR F FRANKS; 1992  - PROFESSOR K. WATANABE; 1991 - DR S.F. PEARSON; 1990 - PROFESSOR K. STEPHAN; 1989 - PROFESSOR P.O.FANGER; 1988 - PROFESSOR R.L. WEBB; 1987 - DR C. BAILEY; 1986 - DR W.R. MALEWSKI; 1985 - PROFESSOR W.F. STOECKER; 1984 - PROFESSOR G. LORENTZEN; 1983 - PROFESSOR G. GLEW; 1981 - MRS M.M. DOYLE; 1979 - DR H. SIXSMITH; 1978 - DR A.D. APPLETON; 1977 - B. ZIMMERN;

Award rules and how to nominate

1. The J&E Hall Gold Medal was initiated by Hall-Thermotank Ltd in 1977 as the Hall-Thermotank Gold Medal to mark the centenary of the company's involvement (originally as J&E Hall Ltd) in the field of refrigeration in 1877.

2. The Institute of Refrigeration will award the Gold Medal annually to the person considered to have made the most noteworthy contribution to the advancement of refrigeration and related technologies.

3. The Institute shall have the authority to withhold the award in any year if it considers that none of the nominations is of a sufficiently high standard.

4. The winner of the award each year will be presented by the sponsor with:

• the J&E Hall Gold Medal to hold for one year
• a solid silver replica of the Gold Medal engraved with his or her name to keep
• a sum of £5,000

5. The award will be international and nominations will be accepted from all parts of the world.

6. Nominations may be made by any organisation or individual, with the permission of the nominee. Individuals may nominate themselves but such nominations must be authenticated by another responsible person with sufficient knowledge to do so. Nominations for work carried out by more than one person will be accepted but no more than two people will receive the award each year.

7. Each nomination must be supported by evidence of the contribution or achievement on which the nomination is based. This should take the form of a statement, in English, not exceeding 1,000 words with such supporting documentation and illustrations as may be necessary. The volume of evidence should be kept to the minimum necessary. The panel shall be empowered to call for additional evidence if they so wish.

8. All nominations received by the due date will be considered by a Panel chaired by the President of the Institute of Refrigeration, or his appointee and comprising four other members chosen annually by the Institute.

9. The Panel shall be empowered to call on specialist advice if it so wishes.

10. In considering the nominations, the Panel will pay special regard to the practical nature of the contribution on which the nomination is based and to its originality. Work of a theoretical nature may be accepted provided its practical viability can be clearly demonstrated.

11. The contribution cited in the nomination need not necessarily have been made within the preceding year. Work carried out over an extended period will be admissible but there should be some evidence to indicate that it has reached its culmination, or that its significance has become apparent relatively recently.

12. The Panel will bear in mind that the purpose of the award is to encourage progress rather than to acknowledge past achievement.

13. The Gold Medal will not be awarded to the same person for two years in succession.

14. The winner will normally be expected to attend a presentation ceremony in London. He or she may be asked as a condition of acceptance to present a paper to the Institute of Refrigeration.

15. The decision of the Panel on any matter will be final.

16. Nominations should be addressed to The Secretary, at the Institute of Refrigeration.

17. Nominations must reach the Secretary of the Institute not later than the date specified on the nomination form each year. An announcement of the award will be made on the occasion of the Institute's Annual Dinner.