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Q-Lab VP Dies; Was Leader in Testing

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Patrick J. Brennan, 60, vice president of Q-Lab Corporation in Westlake, OH, died September 20, 2009, according to an October 14 announcement from the test equipment and services company.

During his 30-year career at Q-Lab, Mr. Brennan became established as one of the few experts in the field of accelerated weathering and lightfastness testing, said Q-Lab President Douglas Grossman, who described Mr. Brennan’s extensive activity in key standards-writing organizations, including ASTM International, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC).

An ASTM member since 1986, Mr. Brennan participated in the association’s committees on metallic coatings, B08; sealants, C24; paint and coatings, D01; road and paving materials, D04; roofing, D08; textiles, D13; plastics, D20; building materials, E06; corrosion, G01; and weathering, G03. Mr. Brennan also served on more than 50 sub-committees, was the D20.50 sub-chairman from 1991-2006, and was honored with the D20 Award of Appreciation in 2000 and the G03 Group Chairman of the Year Award in 2001.

Mr. Brennan was an active member of AATCC for 23 years, participating in several of its research committees and serving on the International Test Methods Committee. He was instrumental in changing Test Method 16, Colorfastness to Light, to a performance-based standard. He was former chair of the committees on Weather Resistance Test Methods and on Colorfastness to Light Test Methods. In addition, he served for several years as the U.S. expert for the ISO committee on light-stability and weathering. He was also a member of ISO TC38 for textiles, and ISO TC61 for plastics from 1992-2005. 

Mr. Brennan started his career at Q-Lab working on the Q-Panel assembly line. Later, as the leader of Sales and Marketing at Q-Lab, he oversaw the initial launch of the Q-Fog Cyclic Corrosion Chamber (1993); Florida and Arizona Weathering Research Service (1995); and Q-Sun Xenon Test Chamber (1998). Over the past quarter century, he also oversaw the global expansion of Q-Lab into more than 60 countries, including China and Germany. 

Mr. Brennan published numerous technical papers on weathering and lightfastness, and he taught audiences around the world. His contributions to the science of weathering and light stability have been immeasurable, Mr. Grossman added.