Radiant Professionals Alliance (RPA) member John Goshulak, P.Eng. of Weil-McLain Canada has received the prestigious Carlson-Holohan Industry Award of Excellence. The award is bestowed upon an individual for his or her combined dedication to teaching, mentoring, and raising funds for philanthropic causes on behalf of the North American steam and hydronic industry. Goshulak was the last honoree to receive the original award — engineer Gil Carlson’s prototype of the Bell & Gossett System Syzer® — before it traveled to its permanent home at The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York.
Goshulak received the award — given out every other year — during the RPA’s Annual Membership Meeting & Conference in Orlando, Fla., which was held in conjunction with the 2016 AHR Expo.
“I’ve known John for about 10 years, and know him to be a very intelligent, hydronically oriented individual with many years of field exposure, making him a perfect candidate for this prestigious award,” said RPA Executive Director Mark Eatherton. “I’m certain he will do the award justice in carrying it forward for the next two years. He is not afraid of becoming engaged and was instrumental in Canada’s Beautiful Heat campaign.”
The System Syzer was constructed as a “circular slide ruler” with cardboard and craft paper using Carlson’s unique understanding of fluid flow, piping, and thermodynamics. Carlson gave the tool to his friend Jim Hope, who subsequently gave it to General Society member Dan Holohan. While raising funds for a charity event, Holohan passed the “wheel” onto Robert Bean, R.E.T., P.L.(Eng.), the Director of Indoor Climate Consultants Inc., who gave the tool back to the industry by creating the award in 2005. Previous honorees include John Siegenthaler, P.E., John Barba, Ken Webster, C.E.T., Eatherton, and Dave Yates.
Bean, the award chairman, said its original intent was for the recipients to take it around with them and incorporate it into their lectures, but due to concerns about durability of the award — which consists of the roughly 50-year-old cardboard and paper System Syzer inside a glass frame — the decision was made to find a permanent home. Bean said future honorees will receive a replica of the award.
Bean said that as of 2004, the System Syzer had been distributed to more than 100,000 engineers and tradesmen around the world. It is now distributed through digital software.
“Gil was a legend in the world of engineering, and now to have his name and his invention in the museum along with Dan — who’s also incredibly well known in the industry for things that he’s contributed — just to have those two persons recognized in that institution is huge,” Bean said.
The RPA’s mission is to provide superior leadership in the industry and foster the awareness of radiant and hydronic technologies in order to “Grow Radiant.” The RPA is a national chapter of IAPMO, representing the radiant and hydronic industry.
Last modified: March 25, 2016