Research scientist Dr David Rand was presented with the International Lead Medal for his contribution to the international lead battery industry. He is a “mobile university” and “mobile encyclopaedia” on lead batteries, said L Pugazhenthy – known as “Mr Pug” – Executive Director of the India Lead Zinc Development Association.
A previous recipient himself, he presented the award on Wednesday at the 20th Asian Battery Conference in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Rand is an honorary research fellow at Australia’s national science agency CSIRO and its chief energy scientist of the World Solar Challenge. Before his retirement in 2008, he was CSIRO’s scientific advisor on hydrogen and renewable energy. He has spent over 50 years at CSIRO. He was educated as an electrochemist at England’s Cambridge University and received a PhD and ScD.
Rand told the conference in his acceptance speech that receiving the award was one of the hardest things he had ever done.
His research was previously recognised by the award of the Faraday Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Gaston Planté Medal. He co-invented the UltraBattery with Lan Lam in 2005. It is the first lead-based hybrid battery that incorporates a supercapacitor.
CSIRO said another major contribution by Rand was solving premature capacity loss. This is a phenomenon that drastically shortens the life of lead-acid batteries. “The value of this work to the battery industry is beyond calculation,” it said.
Other important work involved developing battery technology for remote-area power supply facilities. Rand and his team installed them in several Asian countries, Peru, Africa, and the Torres Strait Islands.
Photo: Dr David Rand (centre) receiving the International Lead Medal for his contribution to the international lead battery industry
