Alan’s background

Dr Alan Nurick was well known in the engineering fraternity. However, his real love was art.

When he died on 25 December 2014, aged 73, he left behind a legacy of art works.

Alan received his primary engineering degree at the University of Cape Town, then spent a two-year sojourn on a pupilage at Parsons in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.

Thereafter, he devoted he career to academia and research, spending some years in the highly specialised area of fluid mechanical engineering. Dr Nurick spent the rest of his life dedicated to his students and further research. In recent years the research in which he was involved will ultimately make a huge impact on society as we know it and revolutionise thinking on solar energy.

During Dr Nurick's tenure as HOD at the University of the Witwatersrand, he conducted important research into helicopter-related matters. He also served two terms as President of the SA Institute of Aeronautical Engineering, served a term as Chairman of the professional advisory committee on Aeronautical Engineering and was Chairman of the Professional Engineers' Committee. At the time of his passing, he had just completed his teaching duties as Professor of Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand and supervised his students' exams two weeks earlier.

Somehow, he also managed to attend the Open Window Art Academy for two years, on a part-time basis, in order to gain a better insight into the world of art. His projects in the field of the arts on which he was working, were of artistic and practical importance. Alan's interest in art went far beyond the paintings and the multitude of art works he created. The "Ethics of Art" module used in the Fine Arts Faculty at the University of Johannesburg, dealing with ethical and moral dilemmas surrounding art, was essentially his work.

Alan believed that the importance of some of his artworks, his writings and his research, will only be realised, perhaps years after his passing. he didn't look for glory. In his modest manner, he merely stated the facts. An unfinished book of 340 pages titled: "The Philosophy of Art and Organisational Theory", still sits on his computer.

He was hoping to seriously promote his art works after he retired at the end of 2014. Unfortunately, it was never to happen when it was discovered that he was in the late stage of mesothelioma, a malignant cancer, which was due to his having come into contact with asbestos over 35 years' ago.

Five of his art works are displayed in the SA National Treasury. Several others were sold from exhibitions and art stores in South Africa, only because his wife saw the potential of his art.

In recognition of Alan's lifetime of dedication, the SA Aeronautical Society are naming a plenary session in his honour, the first being in Stellenbosch in September 2015; the University of Johannesburg are presenting a medal every year in his name to the top student in either mechanical/aeronautical or solar energy, which were his three disciplines. The first student to receive this prestigious award happens to be one of Prof Nurick's own students.

Alan with his wife Lyn

Alan and Lyn with their grandchild, Mia

Alan and Lyn

Alan, Lyn and Michael