The new chairman of the International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration (IIAR) brings lots of experience with ammonia as a refrigerant including extensive, formal training from an early age.

Brian Marriott was right out of high school in his native Rhodesia (today Zimbabwe) when he entered a five-year Pupil Engineering program through employment in the beef slaughter and packing industry. This program involved both academic study and practical training leading to the equivalent of a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering with subsequent experience necessary to achieve formal competency certification for the position of plant engineer.

His practical training included work in large ammonia refrigeration plants. “I had the benefit of being in a very structured program,” he said.

After qualifying, he continued to work in that industry for another 12 years gaining extensive experience in the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of large ammonia refrigerating plants. He immigrated to the United States with his wife and three children at the end of 1981 to accept a job with FES Systems, where he was subsequently appointed chief project engineer.

He stayed with FES until late 1989 before taking a position as director of engineering for RECO. At that time RECO was being purchased by York, which in turn was recently acquired by Johnson Controls.

Today Marriott holds the title of senior engineer, refrigeration systems in the Building Efficiency division of Johnson Controls.

His involvement in IIAR started in 1989 “as an opportunity to broaden my contacts and give something back to the industry.”

Since then he has been engaged in a wide range of activities within IIAR. He served as chairman of the Valve Committee and has been a long-standing member of the Standards Review Committee. He was elected to the board of directors in March 2000 and to serve on the Executive Committee in March 2005, moving through the elected chairs to where he now serves in the highest elected office until the organization’s next annual meeting in March 2009.

During the coming year, Marriott said he hopes to see “significant progress” on a number of technical projects involving standards dealing with startup and commissioning, inspection and maintenance, and plant operations.

Marriott also noted ongoing efforts to continue to provide educational videos including the conversion of existing tapes to DVD. The videos deal with training and safety awareness.

Another project, he said, is a CO2 technical handbook for the refrigerant’s use in conjunction with ammonia in cascade refrigeration systems.

And, he said, there continues to be a “need to encourage younger people to come into the industry,” which will be an ongoing focus of IIAR.

Publication Date: 05/26/2008