William R. Jones Honored By Heat Treating Society
William R. Jones, CEO and founder of the Solar family of companies, was honored for his lifetime achievements and entrepreneurial success at the ASM Heat Treating Society’s 26th Conference and Exposition in Cincinnati Oct. 31 – Nov. 1.
As the recipient of the 2011 Honorary Symposium, Mr. Jones shared his experience and insights with a standing-room-only crowd of over 150 people in his presentation entitled “Vacuum Heat treating: Yesterday – Today- Tomorrow.”
Prior to the talk, Mr. Jones’ son Roger, corporate president of Solar Atmospheres, introduced his father and reflected on his success and devotion to the industry. After the presentation, a commemorative plaque proclaiming Mr. Jones a world-recognized innovator and educator in the heat treatment industry was presented to him by his grandsons Jamie and Trevor, who are also part of the family business. The award declared that, “…as a leading pioneer in the field of vacuum heat treating technology and equipment for more than 40 years, Mr. Jones has influenced and shaped our industry and the materials community worldwide. The Heat Treating Society is grateful to Mr. Jones for his life-long commitment to technical excellence within the heat treating industry.” The ceremony also included congratulatory remarks from Roger Fabian, past president of the ASM Heat Treating Society and Dan Herring, a former HTS board member.
Mr. Jones’ wife Myrt and over twenty Solar employees were in attendance to continue the celebration of his accomplishments at a Meet-And-Greet reception with industry colleagues. As noted by Sunniva Collins, Ph. D., FASM, “ Bill Jones is one of the great men of modern metallurgist. He is an unusual combination of technologist, businessman, and entrepreneur.” Mr. Jones expressed that he was, “ … overwhelmed with this acknowledgement of industry recognition and never through such an award would come my way.”
A graduate of Penn State University, Abington Campus with a degree in electrical technology, Mr. Jones has more than 40 years of experience developing vacuum furnace and processing technology. He is a Life member of the American Society of Materials (ASM), an ASM Fellow, and has received the ASM’s national Eisenman Award for applications of vacuum technology for outstanding contributions in industry. He served as President of Abar Corporation for five years, and in 1978 founded Vacuum Furnace Systems Corporation (VFS) to engineer and build vacuum furnaces. In 1983 he and his son, Roger, formed Solar Atmospheres to make use of the technology advancements of VFS. He holds numerous patents related to vacuum furnace design and application. Mr. Jones also has written numerous technical articles and presented many technical papers for ASM the Metal Treating Institute (MTI) and Industrial Heating Magazine.