J&E Hall Gold Medal

Download the nomination form here 

Deadline: 10th November 

This internationally respected award recognises the most noteworthy practical contribution to the field of innovation in refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump technology. The award has been sponsored by J&E Hall International consistently for 46 years with a prize award of £5,000, and is open to individuals or teams responsible for recent practical technology advancement in one or more of the following areas:

• Practical applications of innovative designs
• RACHP installations, developments, technologies that have made an original contribution to the field
• Systems that demonstrate substantial potential and evidence that they will be completed successfully
• Outstanding and significant work in a new or unusual area of design and installation

Winner of the 2023 J&E Hall Gold Medal

2023 Prof. Yulong Ding has been recognised for his work on liquid air energy storage, and composite phase change materials for thermal energy storage for heat and cold.  He has provided a unique contribution to the storage and management of renewable energy. Using liquid energy storage, the technologies Prof Ding has developed, are already being used commercially in cold chain applications and cooled containers, as well as energy facilities such as Highview Power in Birmingham. The judges agreed that this innovation has tremendous potential for the future.

Previous Winners

2022 Alexander Cohr Pachai has worked to develop environmentally responsible solutions to the many challenges faced by the refrigeration industry over the past 40 years.  These have included compressor development for ammonia, hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide and water in industrial systems, system design for new ways to use these refrigerants.  In addition to this he has consistently shared his expertise with the industry through UNEP, the International Institute of Refrigeration and of course the IOR. He is currently chair of IIR's Safety Working Group and is chapter lead author on industrial refrigeration for UNEP's Refrigeration Technical Options Report.  His work has always been practical in nature, encompassing training and safety as well as testing, and in many cases, it is now the basis for current industrial practices around the globe. His major contribution to the refrigeration sector has been the growing acceptance of natural working fluids in a wider range of applications.

2021 GRAEME MAIDMENT received the award in recognition of his practical achievement in demonstrating innovation in the delivery of low-carbon solutions for the refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump sector.  He has pioneered the integration of heating and cooling with practical projects on combined heating, cooling and energy storage; integration of heat, power and whole energy systems; and smart heating and cooling.  He has also led several initiatives to promote sustainability in our sector such as refrigerant leakage reduction. He is currently working on low carbon strategies in the food sector and supporting cold chains in developing countries, is the lead advisor on Heating and Cooling for BEIS the Dept for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and co-lead of the Innovation Challenge “Affordable Heating and Cooling of Buildings” where he works with 24 countries on clean energy solutions.  

2019 DAVID PEARSON to recognise his contribution to the development of a series of heat pump systems that have provided a realistic and attractive solution to the challenge of delivering cost-effective low-carbon heat to whole communities. In particular, the concept used in Dremmen Norway, employed three systems in series, with two stages of compression on each stage, each harnessing the full value of the higher grade heat sources within its circuit to deliver a world-class COPh of 3.05 at 90°C from seawater at 8°C. This system is still achieving success some 9 years after the plant was first set to work. His work has provided a model for how our sector can play a major part in achieving a cleaner, healthier cities and contribute to the drive towards net zero. 

 2018 MARK McLINDEN received the award for his contribution in using applied state-of-the-art thermodynamic property tools to address the challenges of the identification of new, environmentally friendly refrigerants. Mark led a team that identified the fundamental thermodynamic characteristics of the “ideal” refrigerant and then carried out a systematic and exhaustive screening of a comprehensive database of 60 million molecules to identify molecules having those characteristics. This work has provided authoritative, technical guidance to the HVAC&R and chemical industries to assist their compliance with international regulations that require a new generation of refrigerants with low global-warming potential (GWP) that also satisfy often-competing performance, safety, and environmental impact requirements.

2017  ECKHARD GROLL was awarded the J&E Gold Medal for his contribution to the field of compressor evolution. This work has helped manufacturers to improve existing compressor design, test new design concepts and shorten development times.  He has achieved this through the development and application of comprehensive simulation models for a range of hermetic positive displacement compressors.  He and his thermal systems research team have modelled scroll, rolling piston, reciprocating, linear, rotating spool, bowtie, Z-, and S-RAM compressors for various refrigerants including carbon dioxide.

2016 TOM WATSON was awarded the J&E Gold Medal in recognition of his work which has resulted in significant improvements in the efficiency of chillers and industrial heat pumps. This has included the introduction of large capacity oil-free compressors and the safe application of low GWP flammable refrigerants. Tom will be returning to the UK later this year to give a paper detailing his award-winning work. 

2015 - IAN TANSLEY, Chief Technical Officer of  SureChill Company Limited. Ian is a leading figure in the renewable energy industry where he is addressing the issue of providing reliable cooling with an intermittent or erratic power supply.  His vaccine refrigerator operates without the need for a constant power source and avoids the use of costly and unreliable solar rechargeable batteries using water-based cooling technology. The World Health Organisation has approved medical refrigerators using this technology and it is already having a major impact on child health worldwide, helping to save lives in some of the most difficult environments on earth.  

2014 - REINARD RADERMACHER whose work has pushed the research frontiers by exploring new technologies and developing them for real-life applications. He is a world authority on energy efficiency and environmentally sustainable thermal systems research. The simulation packages developed under his direction are used by more than 60 organisations worldwide and have helped to enable researchers, policymakers and designers to analyse life-cycle estimate of natural and low GWP refrigerants.

2013 - RUZHU WANG received the award for his work in research and application of heat pumps using low grade heat sources. The award was given in recognition that his work provided the widest range of practical innovations for heating and cooling for both buildings and other applications. It provides a method of using solar heating to drive adsorption - thus propelling the feasibility of solar powered cooling for the future.

2012 - ROBERT HADFIELD for his work in the advancement of the practical application of infrared single-photon detector technology in closed-cycle refrigerator systems, eliminating the need for liquid cryogens, and for the work to commercialise this technology for use in the National Physical Laboratory and in commercial companies in medical diagnostics. This is a unique development that will support the advancement of physics and medical science in a vast range of applications and is an example of refrigeration technology advancements supporting the development of other practical sciences

2011 - PEGA HRNJAK for his work on the practical application of innovation as the Director of their Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Centre at the University of Illinois and a private commercial research facility that focuses on thermal systems ranging from nano-technology to large industrial equipment. 

2010 -DONALD CLELAND for his achievements in technology transfer related to food refrigeration and efficiency research. Examples of his original contributions include predicting the effect of shape on rates of food heating and cooling; determining moisture sorption characteristics of food packaging, measuring air infiltration into refrigerated spaces and quantifying latent heat loads in refrigerated facilities. Recently his work has expanded to cover fluorocarbon replacement by hydrocarbons in farm milk cooling vats and the development of industrial heat pumps using carbon dioxide.

2009 - JURGEN SUESS - 2008 - RON CONRY - 2007 - PROF JOHN THOME- 2006 - Dr ANDY PEARSON - 2005 - PROF IAN EAMES 2004 - PROF CLARK BULLARD - 2003 - DR RAKESH AGRAWAL -2002 - PROF ALBERTO CAVALLINI- 2001 - DR D DIDION; 2000 - DR AC CLELAND; 1999 - MR M LAWRENCE; 1998 - DR R RADEBAUGH; 1997 - NORMALAIR-GARRETT LTD, UK; 1996 - MR S SUNDARESAN; 1995 - DR J PAUL AND MR E JAHN; 1994 - DR A FUTAKAWA; 1993 - DR F FRANKS; 1992  - PROFESSOR K. WATANABE; 1991 - DR S.F. PEARSON; 1990 - PROFESSOR K. STEPHAN; 1989 - PROFESSOR P.O.FANGER; 1988 - PROFESSOR R.L. WEBB; 1987 - DR C. BAILEY; 1986 - DR W.R. MALEWSKI; 1985 - PROFESSOR W.F. STOECKER; 1984 - PROFESSOR G. LORENTZEN; 1983 - PROFESSOR G. GLEW; 1981 - MRS M.M. DOYLE; 1979 - DR H. SIXSMITH; 1978 - DR A.D. APPLETON; 1977 - B. ZIMMERN

Award rules and how to nominate

1. The J&E Hall Gold Medal was initiated by Hall-Thermotank Ltd in 1977 as the Hall-Thermotank Gold Medal to mark the centenary of the company's involvement (originally as J&E Hall Ltd) in the field of refrigeration in 1877.

2. The Institute of Refrigeration will award the Gold Medal annually to the person considered to have made the most noteworthy contribution to the advancement of refrigeration and related technologies.

3. The Institute shall have the authority to withhold the award in any year if it considers that none of the nominations is of a sufficiently high standard.

4. The winner of the award each year will be presented by the sponsor with:

• the J&E Hall Gold Medal to hold for one year
• a solid silver replica of the Gold Medal engraved with his or her name to keep
• a sum of £5,000

5. The award will be international and nominations will be accepted from all parts of the world.

6. Nominations may be made by any organisation or individual, with the permission of the nominee. Individuals may nominate themselves but such nominations must be authenticated by another responsible person with sufficient knowledge to do so. Nominations for work carried out by more than one person will be accepted but no more than two people will receive the award each year.

7. Each nomination must be supported by evidence of the contribution or achievement on which the nomination is based. This should take the form of a statement, in English, not exceeding 1,000 words with such supporting documentation and illustrations as may be necessary. The volume of evidence should be kept to the minimum necessary. The panel shall be empowered to call for additional evidence if they so wish.

8. All nominations received by the due date will be considered by a Panel chaired by the President of the Institute of Refrigeration, or his appointee and comprising four other members chosen annually by the Institute.

9. The Panel shall be empowered to call on specialist advice if it so wishes.

10. In considering the nominations, the Panel will pay special regard to the practical nature of the contribution on which the nomination is based and to its originality. Work of a theoretical nature may be accepted provided its practical viability can be clearly demonstrated.

11. The contribution cited in the nomination need not necessarily have been made within the preceding year. Work carried out over an extended period will be admissible but there should be some evidence to indicate that it has reached its culmination, or that its significance has become apparent relatively recently.

12. The Panel will bear in mind that the purpose of the award is to encourage progress rather than to acknowledge past achievement.

13. The Gold Medal will not be awarded to the same person for two years in succession.

14. The winner will normally be expected to attend a presentation ceremony in London. He or she may be asked as a condition of acceptance to present a paper to the Institute of Refrigeration.

15. The decision of the Panel on any matter will be final.

16. Nominations should be addressed to The Secretary, at the Institute of Refrigeration.

17. Nominations must reach the Secretary of the Institute not later than the date specified on the nomination form each year. An announcement of the award will be made on the occasion of the Institute's Annual Dinner.