Smiths Detection mourns loss of Dr Bob Turner, foremost authority in chemical agent detection

Watford, UK, 4 June 2008 - Smiths Detection has announced with great sadness the death of Dr Bob Turner OBE, Director of Technology Acquisition. 

Bob Turner was acknowledged as one of the foremost world authorities in the application of Smiths Detection’s core technology, Ion Mobility Spectrometry, in highly sensitive instruments. He had overseen the development of the technology for use in critical applications by military forces worldwide and increasingly by civil emergency responders. 

Against this background, over a 25 year career, he became a key figure in the growth of Graseby Dynamics and then Smiths Detection as the world’s leading specialist business in chemical agent detectors.

He was first involved in the mechanical and software design of the Chemical Agent Monitor which is now in use worldwide, with approaching 70,000 units deployed. He also became a central figure in the success of the ACADA programme for the US DoD, for which he was initially the Programme Manager. Since 1998, approximately 50,000 GID-3 ACADA units have been supplied to the US services.

Bill Mawer, Director of  Strategy & Technology for Smiths Detection, said: “Bob Turner was an outstanding scientist who made a truly exceptional contribution to the development of chemical agent detection technologies. He played an important role in the growth of Smiths Detection, using his broad understanding of technology to evaluate emerging detection techniques. He has also been an important mentor to less experienced engineer and scientists and will be missed by all he worked with.”

Bob Turner’s career developed from a period in academia at the University of Kent, where he gained a Ph.D. and carried out research in mass spectrometry. He joined Graseby Dynamics (at that time part of Cambridge Electronic Industries) in 1982 as Senior Scientist, becoming Director of R&D and later Technical Director, when Watford-based Graseby was acquired by Smiths in 1997. 
As the Detection business expanded, Bob moved into a central role responsible for the development of improved technologies, both through research and through acquisition.

Throughout his career, Bob Turner’s principle disciplinary interest remained the  development of instrumentation and sensors – combining electronics, mechanical engineering, software engineering and science. He thrived in the product engineering environment, from initial design through to production trouble-shooting. He had a number of key patents to his name and authored several important papers. 

His commitment and success led to national recognition in 2000 when he was awarded the OBE.

Bob Turner lived in Chesham, Bucks and leaves a widow and three grown-up children.