BATTERY HEROES: NORMAN BAGSHAW
From left: Wedding day July 6, 1957, attending a formal dinner dance, with grandchildren and celebrating their golden wedding anniversary
the flow-through system is a fall in voltage as the battery discharges. We overcame this by recirculating some of the sea water to increase the temperature and therefore the voltage during discharge. We tested the effectiveness of this innovation in the lab prior to commercialization.” He was happy to share his expertise and in 1982 he wrote the 203-page book Batteries on Ships, a standard text on the subject, which was published in January 1983 and in 1986 in Russian. He also edited a series of books on power sources technology for Research Studies Press. In 1988 Bagshaw, who had left Chloride the previous year to become an independent consultant, was awarded the Frank Booth Medal by the International Power Sources Symposium Committee for contributions to battery research and development. During the next decade and a half, he advised several companies and government departments in various countries throughout the world on many research projects. Notable examples include a mission to Syria on behalf of the United Nations to advise on batteries for photovoltaic systems; his work as a member of an advisory committee to the UK’s defence ministry for battery requirements into the next century; advising on the development of a maintenance free battery
for solar power application for a European Commission project; and providing advice to the UK’s House of Lords on zero emission vehicles. Companies he has advised include Atraverda USA, Magneti Morelli in Italy, several battery companies in South Korea which he has also visited and he has worked closely with HBL (Hyderabad Batteries Limited) in India on some of their new battery projects, becoming a non-executive director of this company for three years. He also performed a critical survey of all the lead-acid work assessed ILZRO (International Lead Zinc Research Organisation). Bagshaw was also used as an expert witness in many battery and patent disputes. In one notable case, his name as expert witness was enough to make the opposing company withdraw. Throughout this period Bagshaw has shared his knowledge by giving various battery tutorials and workshops around the world Like many in the battery business, music has always been an important part of his life — and continues to this day. It’s passion that runs through his whole family — down to his grandchildren. Now approaching his 84th year he divides his time between his home in Cheshire and a chalet in north Wales where he goes on walking holidays.
In addition to the alloy work, Bagshaw and his team carried out x-ray and microscopic analysis of active materials in battery plates. The structures of lead oxides were clarified by x-ray and neutron diffraction analysis and the ways in which alpha and beta lead dioxide could be formed were elucidated. 124 • Batteries International • Autumn 2016
NORMAN BAGSHAW Bagshaw was chairman of the British and IEC Standards Committees on Aircraft Batteries over many years; an Industrial Fellow at Nottingham University for six years, and member of the Court and Council of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology for 17 years. He has also been a member of the International Power Sources Symposium Committee, member of the Council of Defence Manufacturers’ Association (DMA), member of the editorial board of Advanced Metals Technology and member of the Industrial Advisory Committee LABAT, Bulgaria. In 1999 the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences awarded him the Gaston Planté medal for fundamental contributions to the development of lead-acid battery technology. In 2003 he received the UMIST medal for sustained and outstanding work for the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. Bagshaw has published over 60 scientific papers for professional and technical journals.
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