Category: ETM

PCS reaches 30 years

PCS 30th anniversary
This year PCS reached 30 years in business and to mark the occasion we held a one-day event at the Royal Geographical Society, South Kensington.  Current customers, PCS employees and both current and past staff and students from Imperial College came along help us celebrate the achievement.

The day started with a nostalgic talk from Dr Ritchie Sayles – who was both Dr Hamer and Dr Hutchinson’s supervisor when they were studying in the Tribology Lab at Imperial College, affectionately referred to as ‘the lube lab’. He had a strong influence on the business in the early days and was more than happy to share some memories of the brainstorming sessions held in the Southside Bar in the late 1980’s.

  1. PCS 30th anniversary 2
    Dr Ritchie Sayles presenting

It was followed by a heartfelt speech by the Managing Director of PCS, Dr John Hutchinson, who continued the nostalgic theme. He spoke fondly of the first couple of years at PCS when money was tight and all manufacturing took place in a meeting room which belonged to Viking Precision. He finished by thanking everyone who had been involved with PCS in the last 30 years for their hard work and loyalty to the company.


  1. Dr John Hutchinson

Displayed around the hall were instruments from throughout PCS’s lifespan including the first HFRR electronics unit (sold in 1993), PCS’s most popular tribology instrument, the MTM, and a range of new products scheduled to be released in 2018. This made for interesting and reminiscent discussions about how far PCS has come and the clear development in the technology and the tribology industry over the last 30 years.


  1. HFRR throughout the ages: HFRR1, 2 and 3

  2. New Products: The PCS-BAM and PCS-ETM

Following an opportunity for some hands-on demonstrations of the current instruments and a delicious buffet lunch we moved into the main lecture theatre for technical presentations given by leading academics from the Tribology Section at Imperial College. Professor Hugh Spikes, Professor Daniele Dini, Dr Philippa Cann and Dr Amir Kadiric all gave presentations highlighting some of the work performed from the tribology lab at Imperial College over the past 30 years.  This covered all aspects of tribology that has been possible due to the strong relationship between PCS and Imperial.

Luckily the sun came out in the afternoon and the day was wrapped up with champagne on the lawn, toasting to the last successful 30 years and to a prosperous next 30.

PS – Following the success of the day and the great feedback from attendees there are already discussions underway between PCS and Imperial college to organise a joint symposium in the upcoming years, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for more information.