I was in awe of Lionel. In years past when I attended meetings of international engineering organizations, he was always prominent as a leader in such organizations. In the early 1990s after the Soviet Union collapsed, I met him for the first time in Zurich at a meeting to initiate construction of a transmission line from Siberia near Irkutsk to Beijing in China. That project fell through because of failure of the Russians and Chinese to come to an agreement.
Around 23 years ago, Lionel contacted me about one of his inventions where he needed to prove it would work satisfactorily. I had access to means of modelling and testing this invention, and to both our satisfaction, it worked magnificently.
Over years since then, we successfully worked together on a number of engineering power transmission projects across the country. In addition, he developed concepts for solid state power transformers, which we tested through simulation models. He then wrote and submitted a number of patents that were granted, a prototype of one is under construction today.
Lionel never ceased to amaze me with his unbounded knowledge of electric power systems. In addition, he kept fit with his swimming. He was such a great example to many, and a wonderful mentor to me and others. Well done, Lionel. A life well lived. And may Deborah and family find comfort and peace through their memories of this great man.