As an extraordinarily successful refrigeration engineer and consultant, and leader of trade associations, U.K.-based Stephen Gill knows the value of refrigeration. But he wants the wider world to know about it, too.
And on June 26, 2019, Lord Kelvin's birthday, Gill’s ambition to spread the word about refrigeration will be realized in the first-ever World Refrigeration Day, a global celebration with more than 100 trade groups supporting it from around the world.
“I, and others, have been trying to think of ways to promote our industry for a long time,” he said “It is considered a hidden industry in that it is all around us but so few people know what it is or how it impacts their daily lives.”
In 2014, Gill created special posters on refrigeration that he disseminated to great fanfare on LinkedIn. One of them pointed out the myriad ways that refrigeration supports humanity: “Surgeons operate in air-conditioned hospitals. Chilled vaccines are delivered safely to millions in need. Artists perform in air-conditioned theaters. Low carbon heating solutions keep people warm through heat-pump technology. Food is produced and delivered to billions in hygienically safe conditions. Man traveled to the moon in a temperature controlled rocket.”
On World Refrigeration Day, those ideas and more will be disseminated at international events and social media campaigns, such as @worldrefday and #wrefd19 on Twitter. “There is so much good that we do, and there are things that we can do better, but everything has to start with awareness,” Gill said.
