ASTM honours Stephen Sumner with Award of Excellence
In December 2024, Stephen Sumner, former Chief Chemist at Vickers Oils, was presented with the ASTM Award of Excellence in recognition of his contributions to the ASTM D02.12 Subcommittee on Environmental Standards for Lubricants over the past decade. He also served as Secretary of the committee for six years.
ASTM International, formerly known as the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), is a globally recognised specialist in the development and delivery of international voluntary consensus standards. Today, some 12,800 ASTM standards are used around the world to improve product quality, enhance safety, facilitate market access and trade, and build consumer confidence.[1]
Stephen said,
‘I have been very proud to represent Vickers Oils at ASTM and to contribute both to the development of new standards and the maintenance of existing ones, I’m grateful that Vickers has consistently supported this important work.
Much of the credit for our early involvement goes to Chris Wholley, who played a key role in Vickers’ significant contribution to our first standard project in 2014—ASTM D8029, Standard Specification for Biodegradable, Low Aquatic Toxicity Hydraulic Fluids, which was ultimately published in 2018.
Over the past decade, we have supported several test method developments and actively participated in various round robin testing programs. I’ve also been involved in several working groups and have helped advocate for the adoption of the UEIL/ATIEL PCF methodology within ASTM which is an ongoing effort is ongoing.
For the past six years, I have served as Secretary of the D02.12 Subcommittee on Environmental Standards for Lubricants. I was especially honoured to be recognised for my contributions at the December 2024 meeting, where I received the Award of Excellence.’
Stephen has completed 40 years of service at Vickers Oils, starting out as a Research and Development Chemist in 1985 and serving as the Chief Chemist for the past 22 years. He will retire in August and Claire Ward will succeed his role as Chief Chemist after serving as Deputy Chief Chemist for the past 2 years."
Following his retirement as Chief Chemist in July 2025, Stephen took on the role of Technical Projects Advisor, allowing him to continue supporting the Vickers Oils team with his valuable knowledge and experience
Vickers Oils at Febratex 2024
On the 20th of August till the 23rd of August, we exhibited at Febratex 2024 in Brazil supported by our agents in Brazil, Agricopel.
The stand was modern and spacious, showcasing our textile products, their features and our sustainability goals and achievements as a business. The stand also highlighted our number of OEM approvals including the most recent Lonati approval of VICKERLUBE SOCK 46 for use in their single cylinder GOAL series machines. Read more about the approval here.
Global Sales Manager for Vickers Oils, Charles Flint said, ‘It was great to meet all of the visitors at the stand from Brazil and across Latin America. The show highlighted how the industries recovery since Covid was apparent and new, more efficient ways of working were being developed. It was great to engage with people in this field.’
A big thank you to everyone who visited the stand whether that be partners, existing customers or new prospects and another thank you to our Agricopel, our agents in Brazil who supported us on the stand.
