Catch up with Albert Lonn

I enjoyed recognising so many of the happy people in the 1966 photo and look forward to the reunion.

What I have I been doing since 1966?

• I went straight from CGS to start a 4 year BTech sandwich course in Applied Physics at Brunel University with 6-month ‘sandwiches’ performing practical research work in non-destructive testing in Sellafield, Harwell and BP research, Sunbury.
• After spending a year programming computers for a data processing company I took up a research post investigating the application of computers in medicine at the Royal Free Hospital Medical School (RFHMS). My work on Emission Tomography gained me a PhD from the University of London and started me on a career in medical imaging which lasted until my retirement.
• I met my wife Margaret, also a physicist, at RFHSM and we married in July 1975.
• In 1977 I joined EMI in Hayes to work on further development of the X-ray CT scanner (‘EMIscanner’) which had been invented by Sir Godfrey Hounsfield. I continued working for General Electric on Nuclear, PET and X-ray body scanners when they absorbed EMI’s medical imaging business.
• My wife and small daughter emigrated with me when I worked for GE in Wisconsin USA and we returned six years later with a second daughter born in the USA. We spent our holidays touring the USA and were impressed by the immense scale of the landscape compared to the Isle of Wight.
• We live in Beaconsfield and I maintain my health in retirement with gardening, Yoga and Zumba!

What do I remember from School?

When I stood on the shore of Lake Michigan and realised I could not see land on the other side, I recalled the assertion of the geography teacher that you could sink the whole Isle of Wight into the Great Lakes.