Scottish engineer who developed Vanish soap

Born: December 22, 1936;

Died: August 11, 2017

DR Alistair James Stocker Nicoll, who has died aged 80, was an outstanding professional engineer with a wide range of academic and industrial achievements. After a career in industry he joined Paisley College, now the University of the West of Scotland, where he set up a separate section of the Department of Chemistry delivering undergraduate and post-graduate teaching and research in chemical engineering. It then became the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering.

Dr Nicoll also undertook consultancy work in fields as varied as offshore oil, whisky distilling and waste disposal. Jointly with his colleague Stewart Harvey and working with a small company in Skelmorlie, he was responsible for the development of Vanish soap, now an international product.

He fed back the experiences he gained from this work into his teaching, sustaining a high quality of student learning. Such was his passion for teaching that in the 1970s he also joined the Open University as a part-time tutor. His work for the Open University was recognised with a 25-year service award. After retiral in 1999 he continued his academic career until 2006, teaching part time at Heriot Watt University.

While at Paisley he also undertook overseas assignments, helping in a programme to develop the higher education system in Malaysia in the 1980s. He loved everything about Malaysia – the people, the food and the climate (the hotel staff asked him why he did not turn his air conditioning on!)

In the 1990s, he worked on an EU funded technology transfer project involving several exchange trips to Yaroslavl Polytechnic Institute in the newly created Russian Federation. For this work at Yaroslavl he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the institute. While working at Paisley he had already gained a PhD from Strathclyde University.

Alistair Nicoll was born in Glasgow and lived in Ibrox but was evacuated to Moffat in 1939. On return to Glasgow he attended the High School and then joined Glasgow University where he studied chemical engineering, graduating with an honours BSc. As most of his studies took place at the then Royal College of Science and Technology he also gained an associateship of the RCST. When the college became the University of Strathclyde, he was one of the very few remaining people who could also claim to be an ARCST, something he retained to the end of his days.

While at Glasgow he met Aileen who later became his wife of 56 years. He also joined the Territorial Army. On graduation, he was employed by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority at Windscale and after a couple of years moved back to Scotland getting a job at Babcock, Renfrew, before moving to Paisley College in 1964.

He was heavily involved in the Institution of Chemical Engineers becoming a fellow and serving on committees for many years. Ultimately, he served as external examiner for chemical engineering courses at other universities. Alistair and his wife lived in Bishopton from 1964 until they moved to Cheltenham last year to be near their son.

He was a keen amateur sailor, and played squash and snooker. He owned two GP sailing dinghies, the first one being destroyed when a drunken Royal New Zealand Navy sailor fell onto it from a third floor window at the Admiralty building in Greenock and the second was lost on Kilcreggan rocks after an unforecast storm approaching hurricane force blew up the Clyde estuary and he and his crewman had to be rescued by lifeboat. After that he moved on to building model boats.

Keen on Meccano from his youth he continued this interest into retirement, building and exhibiting models at shows. He edited the Meccano Society of Scotland magazine and was a strong supporter of its activities. He loved the design problems, the exhibitions and the companionship of his fellow engineers. He was also a popular active volunteer guide at the Glasgow Transport Museum at its Kelvin Hall location and later at the Riverside Museum.

In Bishopton he joined the Church of Scotland Erskine Parish Church, which in 1999 became Bishopton Parish Church. He became very active, serving for many years as an elder. He was clerk to the congregational board from 2001 until 2012 and served on a number of committees including the nomination committee that identified a new minister, the Rev Yvonne Smith, just before he left Bishopton aged 79. After moving to Cheltenham, he found the same welcoming and caring spirit as at Bishopton Parish Church in St Marks Methodist Church.

Sadly, Alistair Nicoll was diagnosed with terminal cancer in May of this year. As he had when he was in his prime he never complained, bearing adversity with quite remarkable stoicism and always thinking more of others than himself and facing death as a true Christian. Throughout his life his faith remained steadfast through all the joys and sorrows.

He is survived by his wife Aileen and his son Andrew.

JOHN WYLIE