Page 77 - ISES SWC50

William (Bill) Klein

Bill Klein (USA) was a plant pathologist and Director of the Smithsonian Radiation
Biology Laboratory in Bethesda, Maryland. Educated in the USA, Klein started his
career with the Smithsonian in 1951. He was associated for many years with the
classical work on solar radiation measurements of C. G. Abbot and developed an
international network. of stations measuring solar and ultraviolet radiation.

Figure 20: William Klein,
President 1975-1977

R. L Datta

R . L. Datta (India) was educated in India and England, with degrees in Chemistry
and Applied Chemistry. He studied separation processes at the Max Planck
Institute in Germany and worked at the Central Salt and Marine Chemicals
Research Institute in India. His contributions to solar energy R&D were in the
field of salt production by solar evaporation, solar distillation, solar ponds, and
space cooling. He was active in a wide variety of energy agencies, including as
chairman of the All-India Solar Energy Working Group, Convener of the Energy
Research Committee of CSIR (the government of India), Member of the ad hoc
Committee of the USA Academy of Sciences for Solar Energy for Developing
Countries, and others.
Figure 21: R.L. Datta,
President 1977-1979

William (Bill) Charters

Bill Charters (Australia) received his early education in China and Australia,
followed by university degrees from England and the USA, where he earned
a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from Princeton. He had industrial and
military experience in engineering R&D and worked in Trinidad and in Canada
at the Brace Research Institute of McGill University. He held a personal chair in
the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at the University
of Melbourne from 1992 to 2000 and was Dean of the Faculty of Engineering
from 1988 to 1997. His work on solar thermal systems and solar vapour
Figure 22: William compression heat pumps resulted in a number of patents and earned him several
Charters, President awards including the CSIRO Research Medal. For over 25 years Charters was
1979-1981
a consultant to governments and international agencies, including the United
Nations, on ecologically acceptable and environmentally viable energy solutions.
He was a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia. He and his research
group in Melbourne have contributed in collector design, heating and cooling
systems, and heat transfer problems relating to solar energy processes.

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