Steelworks Boss' Phd At `different' University
Illawarra Mercury
Saturday December 16, 2000
Steelworks boss Robert Nightingale was a graduating metallurgy student when he received the first medal ever given by the then-fledgling Wollongong University in 1975.
The car park was coalwash, there wasn't a bar on campus, and there was only one lecture hall.
Yesterday he received his PhD in materials engineering during a much larger and more lavish graduation ceremony at the ``very different" university.
Dr Nightingale, who is married to a senior materials engineering lecturer at the university, had that old university medal in his pocket during yesterday's presentation.
The ironmaking development superintendent said his thesis had dealt with the management of the blast furnace hearth.
``The blast furnace is a riddle ... trying to work out what is happening inside a huge reactor," he said.
``There's always another problem."
Dr Nightgale said his PhD represented the end of his formal study but vowed he would never stop learning.
And he might even write a book with a Canadian friend. The subject - blast furnaces - would keep it off the best seller list, he conceded, but it would be fun to work with his mate.
© 2000 Illawarra Mercury