- Email: [email protected]
In memorium
Surface and Coatings Technology, 43/44 (1990) vu—vu
vii
In memorium
Harbhajan Singh Randhawa To close this plenary session, I want to take the last few minutes in remembrance of Dr. Harbhajan Singh Randhawa. Dr. Randhawa, or Randy to those of us who knew him, died a tragic death in the crash of the Air India flight in Bangalore, India on February 14th of this year, just a little over 6 weeks ago. Randy was on a business trip that was to have taken him to India, China, and Japan. I had just been with Randy four days before his death, and when I learned of what had happened, I could not believe it. I was stunned, shocked, saddened, and angered by his loss, for Randy was not only a friend but he was one of the respected leaders in the field of cathodic arc hard coatings. I still find it hard to believe that we have lost a person of his caliber. Randy, who was born and raised in India, came to this country as a post-doc to study under Professor Ron Bunshah at UCLA. After completing his work with Ron, he joined the TRW Cutting Tool Division in Augusta, Georgia, and stayed with them until 1986 when he went to work for Vac-Tec Systems in Boulder, Colorado. Randy was one of the pioneers in this country in the cathodic arc deposition of hard coatings on cutting tools. At TRW, he had one of the first cathodic arc systems, and he made it work. At Vac-Tec he broadened his horizons beyond just cutting tools, and he expanded the use of cathodic arc coatings for decorative and non-tool wear applications. I personally came to know Randy through this Metallurgical Coatings conference. Randy often presented papers here on his work, and it was here that we would compare the advantages and disadvantages of the cathodic arc and sputtering processes for hard coatings. For the past several years, Randy was a session chairman at the ICMC and was to have been one this year as well. His place will be taken by Dr. Phil Johnson of Vac-Tec, who will also present Randy’s paper for us on Wednesday morning. Randy was also active in the Vacuum Metallurgy Division of the AVS and served on the Executive Committee of the VMD. That’s the professional side of Randy. On the personal side, he was one of those rare individuals—a genuinely nice guy. His nature was very pleasant, and he often had a twinkle in his eye. Somehow he made you feel good after talking with him. Randy definitely is and will be missed. In his memory, this afternoon we will dedicate the session on Hard Coatings Made by Arc Methods to him.
vi”
Would you please join me now in a moment of silence in honor of Randy Randhawa?
Thank you. I thought long and hard about when and what I should say about Randy, and I decided that the end of this plenary session was the best place. I do not want you all to go off in a sad humor. I think that I can safely say that Randy would not have wanted it that way. He looked for the bright spots in life and let us learn from him. He was a very good person who contributed greatly to his field. We can all be better persons because of him. WILLIAM D. SPROUL GENERAL CHAIRMAN, ICMC/ICTF9O San Diego, California, April 2, 1990
vii
In memorium
Harbhajan Singh Randhawa To close this plenary session, I want to take the last few minutes in remembrance of Dr. Harbhajan Singh Randhawa. Dr. Randhawa, or Randy to those of us who knew him, died a tragic death in the crash of the Air India flight in Bangalore, India on February 14th of this year, just a little over 6 weeks ago. Randy was on a business trip that was to have taken him to India, China, and Japan. I had just been with Randy four days before his death, and when I learned of what had happened, I could not believe it. I was stunned, shocked, saddened, and angered by his loss, for Randy was not only a friend but he was one of the respected leaders in the field of cathodic arc hard coatings. I still find it hard to believe that we have lost a person of his caliber. Randy, who was born and raised in India, came to this country as a post-doc to study under Professor Ron Bunshah at UCLA. After completing his work with Ron, he joined the TRW Cutting Tool Division in Augusta, Georgia, and stayed with them until 1986 when he went to work for Vac-Tec Systems in Boulder, Colorado. Randy was one of the pioneers in this country in the cathodic arc deposition of hard coatings on cutting tools. At TRW, he had one of the first cathodic arc systems, and he made it work. At Vac-Tec he broadened his horizons beyond just cutting tools, and he expanded the use of cathodic arc coatings for decorative and non-tool wear applications. I personally came to know Randy through this Metallurgical Coatings conference. Randy often presented papers here on his work, and it was here that we would compare the advantages and disadvantages of the cathodic arc and sputtering processes for hard coatings. For the past several years, Randy was a session chairman at the ICMC and was to have been one this year as well. His place will be taken by Dr. Phil Johnson of Vac-Tec, who will also present Randy’s paper for us on Wednesday morning. Randy was also active in the Vacuum Metallurgy Division of the AVS and served on the Executive Committee of the VMD. That’s the professional side of Randy. On the personal side, he was one of those rare individuals—a genuinely nice guy. His nature was very pleasant, and he often had a twinkle in his eye. Somehow he made you feel good after talking with him. Randy definitely is and will be missed. In his memory, this afternoon we will dedicate the session on Hard Coatings Made by Arc Methods to him.
vi”
Would you please join me now in a moment of silence in honor of Randy Randhawa?
Thank you. I thought long and hard about when and what I should say about Randy, and I decided that the end of this plenary session was the best place. I do not want you all to go off in a sad humor. I think that I can safely say that Randy would not have wanted it that way. He looked for the bright spots in life and let us learn from him. He was a very good person who contributed greatly to his field. We can all be better persons because of him. WILLIAM D. SPROUL GENERAL CHAIRMAN, ICMC/ICTF9O San Diego, California, April 2, 1990