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Brian J. Maddock

We are very sorry to learn of the sudden death of Brian Maddock - from a heart attack while on holiday in the Seychelles on October 11, 1997. Brian had 33 years of service with the industry and had retired in 1993.

He joined the Central Electricity Generating board (CEGB) in 1960 as a research physicist at the Central Electricity Research Laboratories at Leatherhead, where he led the team which, in 1967, developed Britain’s first large-bore composite- superconductor magnet -- a forerunner of those now used routinely by hospitals in magnetic-resonance imagers.

In 1970, Brian became head of the Solid State Physics Section and later headed the Superconductivity and Physics Applications Sections at Central Electricity Research Laboratories (CERL). After a brief spell as University Liaison Coordinator for the Technology Planning and Research Division in 1981/82, he went on to lead the Electrical Plant and Systems Section and, in 1988, the Electrical Power Section in the Research Division based at Leatherhead. From 1984 onwards, Brian led the industry’s research effort on the possible health effects of power-frequency electric and magnetic fields, becoming National Grid Co’s (NGC) Project Manager for this work following privatization in 1990. After his retirement, he acted as Administrator for the EMF Biological Research Trust, funded by NGC to commission research into electromagnetic fields and health.

Brian was a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and of the Institute of Physics. He was a leading contributor on many national and international committees, including those of Conference Internationale des Grands Reseaox Electriques a Haute Tension (CIGRE) and Comite European de Normalisation Electrotechnique (CENELEC). As sub-committee chairman, he was influential in the formulation of CENELEC’s provisional standards for environmental low-frequency electric and magnetic field strengths.

Brian was always a popular and respected figure -- courteous, knowledgeable and ready with a thoughtful and pertinent comment on all matters scientific or technical. He will be greatly missed by his many friends and colleagues. He leaves a widow, Janet, and two daughters, Karen and Frances.

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