Alan F. Rawle
In May 2024, Alan Rawle put down (or hung up) his spatula, scoop, and spinning riffler (3 Sampling S’s) for the last time after 34 years tied to the particle characterization industry, a topic he’d first encountered in his Ph.D. at the very end of the 70’s (not his 70’s but the 1970’s). He has now taken up a full-time career in cat herding and bird watching. In the context of contributing articles to magazines, his nom-de-plume is Phil Space.
Alan has a degree in industrial chemistry and a Ph.D. in supported alloy catalysts, both acquired at Brunel University, London, UK. From 1990 to 2024, Alan was with Malvern Instruments (now Malvern Panalytical) and was the Applications Manager based in Westborough, MA, USA since 2003.
Dr. Rawle had spent many years working with the ISO TC24/SC4 (Particle Characterization) standardization committee, assisting with the writing of documentary standards in light scattering, small-angle X-ray scattering, image analysis, zeta potential, and dispersion, as well as his own interest in the theory and practice of sampling. He presented Short Courses at Pittcon for over 10 years on these topics.
Dr. Rawle was (2005 – 2022) Co-Chair of E 56.02, the Characterization SubCommittee of the ASTM E56 Committee on Nanotechnology. He was the Technical Author (i.e., writer) for ASTM standards in particle sizing, zeta potential, size distribution calculation, among others. Dr. Rawle is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), a Distinguished Fellow of the International Engineering and Technology Institute (DFIETI), and a regular contributor to ResearchGate.