Society of Dyers and Colourists

In celebration of 50 years of membership of SDC, Professor David Lewis will present the George Douglas Memorial Lecture.  This event is free to attend, and includes lunch and refreshments.

Professor Lewis joined SDC in 1962 whilst he was a student at Leeds University, and this year he celebrates his 50 years of membership.  His illustrious career continues to this day, and he will be giving a special lecture to members.  David commented: 'In presenting this George Douglas Memorial Lecture I am conscious that it should cover not only scientific detail but also illustrate, from a personal perspective, the excitement and opportunities offered through a scientific career in the fields of colour and textile chemistry and the support given through my 50 years membership of the SDC'. 

Times: lunch from 1.00pm, lecture starts at 2.00pm. 

Please join us in celebrating Professor Lewis's 50 year milestone. 

To reserve your place, please email marketing@sdc.org.uk

SDC - GEORGE DOUGLAS LECTURE – MAY 17^th 2012

FIFTY YEARS OF COLOUR AND TEXTILE CHEMISTRY – MY LUCKY CAREER CHOICE

David M Lewis, The University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

Summary

In presenting this George Douglas Memorial Lecture I am conscious that it should cover not only scientific detail but also illustrate, from a personal perspective, the excitement and opportunities offered through a scientific career in the fields of colour and textile chemistry and the support given through my 50 years membership of the SDC.

Thanks to the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers of the City of London who provided the necessary scholarship, the author began this career in 1959 by enrolling at Leeds University, Department of Colour Chemistry and Dyeing; the BSc course was followed by research, leading to PhD in 1966. The subject of the thesis was ‘the reaction of ω-chloroacetyl-amino dyes with wool’; this study was responsible for instilling a great enthusiasm for reactive dye chemistry, wool dyeing mechanisms and wool protein chemistry. It was a natural progression to work as a wool research scientist at the International Wool Secretariat (IWS) in Ilkley and at the Australian Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Geelong, Victoria, on such projects as wool coloration at room temperature, polymers for wool shrink-proofing, transfer printing of wool, dyeing wool with disperse dyes and moth-proofing.

In 1987, I was fortunate to be appointed Professor of Colour Chemistry by the University of Leeds; this appointment led to wider horizons and many new research challenges. Some examples include: dyeing cellulosic fibres with specially synthesised reactive dyes/reactive systems with the objective of achieving much higher dye-fibre covalent bonding efficiencies than those produced using currently available systems; neutral dyeing of cellulosic fibres with reactive dyes; new formaldehyde-free cross-linking agents to produce easy-care cotton fabrics; application of leuco vat dyes to polyester and nylon substrates; cosmetic chemistry, especially in terms of hair dyeing and bleaching; security printing; 3-D printing from ink-jet systems; durable flame proofing cotton with formaldehyde-free systems.

In 2004 the author semi-retired from the University and was appointed Professor Emeritus. It was thus natural to then become more involved in the two companies he had helped to establish:

• Inovink Ltd is a privately-owned security printing business which has specialised in infra-red absorbing pigments.

• Green Chemicals plc, through its subsidiary company, Yeadon-based Perachem Ltd, has successfully developed new environmentally friendly flame-proofing processes which are wash-durable and formaldehyde-free, and various new cosmetic chemistries. This latter company was ‘spun’ out of the University in 2004.

The lecture will attempt to capture the exciting nature of the challenges faced in using chemistry and chemical technology to tackle a wide variety of projects and underline the great satisfaction this career provides. In this lecture I propose to detail developments in reactive dyes and dyeing processes, advances in ink-jet printing processes, fibre-reactive arylating agents to allow disperse dye application to wool and cotton, and new textile cross-linking agents for easy-care finishing of cotton; the more commercial work undertaken by the companies, for reasons of confidentiality, will not be so detailed but some indication of the exciting challenges and successful technologies launched to-date will be given.

Professor David Lewis

David joined SDC in 1962 whilst he was a student at Leeds University and this year he celebrates 50 years of continuous membership. He was awarded a PhD in 1966 and his first job was with IWS in Ilkley.  In January 1978 he was seconded to CSIRO, Division of Textile Industry in Geelong, Australia. Following his return to the UK in 1979 he was re-employed by IWS as Principal Development Scientist. From April 1987 until his retirement in December 2004, David was the Head of Colour and Polymer Chemistry Department at the University of Leeds and now undertakes the role of Research Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Mathematics and Physical Sciences. David is now the Research Director forthe privately owned company, Inovink Security Technologies, and Chief Scientific Officer of the Plus-market listed company, Green Chemicals and its subsidiary, Perachem. Green Chemicals was a University spin-out and has had success in the fields of wash-durable flame-proofing technologies and in the hair cosmetic business. Perachem has its laboratory and offices in Yeadon, near Leeds. David continues to be active in the colour science field and draws on his vast array of knowledge, experience and expertise in the areas of reactive dye chemistry, synthesis and modification, fibre chemistry, cosmetic chemistry and analytical chemistry. In 2010 he was appointed visiting professor at the University of Manchester [school of textiles].

David has been involved with SDC publications for many years and over the 50 year period he has authored/co-authored 80 papers in the JSDC/Coloration Technology out of a total of 223 refereed publications to date. He also edited the classic book ‘Wool Dyeing’ and is currently working on a fully updated edition, due to be published by SDC in 2013. He has also served at regional level on the West Riding Committee and was Chairman 1985/86. He was awardedthe Silver Medal for ‘technological achievement’ of the Society in 1984 and was President 1993/94. In 2005, he was awarded Honorary Membership, ‘For long and dedicated service to the Society and outstanding contributions to colour education and research’. David has lectured extensively around the world and as a result of his research he has become recognised as a leading expert in his chosen fields.

David, a native of Gloucestershire, attended Marling School in Stroud from where, in 1959, he took a Clothworkers Exhibition Scholarship to study Colour Chemistry at Leeds University – there was a long tradition of Gloucestershire boys taking this route to Leeds, many making great contributions to SDC and the colour-using industries - the names of Professor F M Rowe and Dr C B Stevens should be mentioned in this context. David lives in Otley and is a keen hiker and tennis player; he is married to Barbara, also a Leeds graduate whom he first met in the University library, and they have three grown-up children and seven grand-children; three of the latter live in Sydney thus ensuring many annual holidays in these Southern climes.

Membership of the Society has played an important part in David’s career; the SDC provides a fantastic learning and networking experience through its committee work, technical meetings, conferences and publications, all providing outstanding value. Not least the SDC has provided the centre for making strong friendships not just in the UK but throughout the world.

Other Honours and Achievements:

Worshipful Company of Feltmakers Silver Medal (2x); Worshipful Company of Dyers Gold Research Medal (2x). Awarded Fellowship of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 1984. Liveryman, Worshipful Company of Dyers and Freeman of the City of London (January 1995). Awarded the Millson Award for Invention by the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colourists in 2005; awarded the Olney medal, for outstanding achievement in textile chemistry, by the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colourists in March 2009. Chairman of the 11^th International Wool Research Conference held at the University of Leeds from 04-09 September 2005.