Alwyn is recognized as one of the stalwarts of science in Wales especially through the medium of Welsh. Few have done more and worked harder and more practically, to bridge the unfortunate gulf that is seen too often between traditional Welsh culture and science and technology.
In recognition of his academic status, Alwyn was elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales in 2011, a year after its establishment, and in the nineties he was Head of the School of Electronic Engineering at Bangor University.
But for many children in Wales his contributions to the Urdd and to the National Eisteddfod were the most obvious and important. With the enthusiastic support of his wife Ella, he led the branch of the Urdd in Porthaethwy for many years. He was also active at Wersyll Glan-llyn and as Chairman of the Science and Technology Committee of the National Eisteddfod and the National Scientific Society.
Yet Alwyn is not remembered as a committee-man. He was a practical person; a catalyst for the 'Wil i'w Wely' competition for young people nationally and a great help to the development of the scientific and technology offer in the National Eisteddfod and the Urdd. At one stage, we believe, Alwyn was responsible, personally and entirely voluntarily, for the sound from the stage at the National. He also organized the lighting in productions and many plays. He received the Science and Technology Medal at the Denbigh Eisteddfod in 2013 in recognition of all his contributions.
Practical engineering was Alwyn's passion and fittingly, he was accepted into the Gorsedd as “Alwyn Peirianydd” – “Alwyn Engineer”. He was a genius at making gadgets. A long time ago one of the authors bought a pH measuring device that was designed by Alwyn and used it in the lab for years.
Although he was born in Pwllheli, Alwyn was a Llanrwst boy and one of the bright products of the Grammar School. He then went to Bangor to study electronic engineering before the electronic revolution changed our lives. On to Manchester to work on data storage systems and also receive a master's degree in Mathematics. He spent five years at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment in Harwell working on the world's first transistorised sampling oscilloscope and other inventions. There very sadly Enid his first wife died young. He was drawn back to Bangor as a lecturer in his old department where he was an integral part of the setup for almost 40 years. As a senior lecturer in electronic engineering, Alwyn's influence on generations of engineering students was enormous. He continued his links with Harwell, and supervised a number of successful doctoral students, applying his deep understanding of signal processing technology and analogue electronics. His practical talents were legendary at school, for example his ability to change the electrical capacitance of an electronic circuit board by scraping away the copper with a drill bit between his finger and thumb thereby improving the performance of the circuit far beyond the expected. In addition to these engineering talents, Alwyn's wise advice at the school meant that Alwyn was an important part of the experiences and memories of staff and students over the decades. There will be a big void (Alwyn would prefer, with a nod to semiconductor science, that we said “hole”) left behind him in Dean Street.
We remember Alwyn as a gentle, friendly, fun, and reliable man. One full of fun and mischief but active and dedicated. He was a loyal member of several local organizations including Clwb yr Efail. Typical of him is that at the age of 92 he gave his latest paper to Clwb yr Efail on his family connection and the famous Closiaid tribe from Nant Peris a few weeks before his sudden death. He was not in good health for several years but he continued, with the help of Ella and his friends, to come to the Gwynedd Scientific Society and Clwb yr Efail meetings and to attend other events around the Menai.
Ella and Alwyn had three children: Angharad, Aneurin and Rhiannon. His family, here in Wales and in America was extremely important to him but it is fair to note his special pleasure that one of his grandchildren is following in his footsteps studying physics and engineering at CERN and in Oxford.
He will be greatly missed at the school, in the area and nationally.
Professor Gareth Wyn Jones and Dr Iestyn Pierce