ARC technical consultant
Dr. Charles A. Bishop
dies at age 70
Dr. Charles A. Bishop
Long-time member of the Assn. for Roll-to-Roll Converters’ (formerly AIMCAL) Technical Advisory Committee and contributor to Converting Quarterly, Dr. Charles A. Bishop, passed away on August 19, 2023. He resided in Loughborough, UK.
Charles was involved in vacuum web-coating technology development and processing for more than 40 years. He started C.A.Bishop Consulting, Ltd. (Loughborough, UK), in 1998 to offer expertise in vacuum engineering, system and process design, troubleshooting, and training. Among his many accolades was induction into the inaugural 2020 AIMCAL Hall of Honor for his many significant contributions to the trade group and the roll-to-roll (R2R) converting industry.
Charles was born April 1, 1953. He left school at age 16 to serve a mechanical engineering apprenticeship, qualifying as a toolmaker. During the apprenticeship, he attended the local UK technical college and obtained an ONC & HNC in Mechanical Engineering. Despite opposition from his employers, after completing his apprenticeship, he resigned to go to university where he took a degree in Materials Engineering and a diploma in Industrial Studies. His final-year project brought his first experience in vacuum processing as he helped develop an implant for prosthetic surgery. For his Master’s and Ph.D. degrees, Charles transferred to the Physics Department where he researched vacuum processing and was part of a team researching heat-mirror windows onto polymer, which won national and international BP Energy Conservation Awards in 1992. After university, he was recruited by ICI where he developed polyester products and explored coating technologies for other business areas.
AIMCAL played a significant role in Charles’s professional journey. “At the start of my career, AIMCAL provided a quick route to expanding my contacts list and exposure to alternative technologies to the ones I was working on,” he explained. “When I moved into consulting, AIMCAL, through its technical conferences, enabled me to present papers that helped me bring my company name to a wide range of potential clients.”
Dr. Charles A. Bishop presented his technical paper at the 2016 AIMCAL WCHC Conference Europe in Dresden, Germany.
Charles served as an AIMCAL Converting School and Fundamentals Seminars instructor and AIMCAL Awards program judge. He co-edited the AIMCAL Metallizing Technical Reference. “Charlie was a brilliant man that dedicated much of his professional career educating individuals and companies in the complex world of R2R vacuum deposition,” says ARC President Andrew Jack. “I personally had the pleasure of knowing CAB for almost 25 years and will greatly miss our frequent chats. RIP Charlie.”
Charles also contributed to Converting Quarterly where he wrote the “Vacuum Verbiage” Q&A technical column and moderated the online Vacuum Web Coating Technical Topics Channel. “Charles was probably the second-most prolific contributor to Converting Quarterly,” says Editor-in-Chief Mark Spaulding, after Web Coating contributing editor, the late Dr. Edward D. Cohen. “He wrote scores of columns and technical features for the magazine and website since 2010, in particular his reviews of vacuum-coating papers presented at various proflex conferences in Germany.”
When not helping to educate the global R2R-converting industry on vacuum web coating, Charles was very active with his church bell choirs, a staunch advocate for environmental issues, and managed his own hobby farm.
A funeral is scheduled for Friday, October 6, 2023, in Loughborough, UK. For details on attending the funeral, contact Mark Spaulding at [email protected].