Ron Barnes, founder of Prozone Water Products, passed away Feb. 14 at the age of 80.
The physicist founded the Huntsville, Ala.-based company, which makes ozone and advanced oxidation process (AOP), after an already distinguished career in the Space Shuttle program and contributions to landmark inventions.
The son of an engineer, Barnes held a Bachelor of Science in Physics and a Masters in Physics and Electronic Engineering, both from Wichita State University.
He moved to Huntsville in 1986 to take part in the Space Shuttle disaster evaluation team, where he worked on the Saturn V and was the principal engineer on the Space Station Freedom. During his tenure as chief research and development engineer with NCR, he was credited with developing the first writable CD-ROM.
He later struck out on his own, founding Prozone in 1977. He also was founder and CEO of Vistek and Ecozone, which provided products to a variety of air and water purification industries.
According to Prozone, Barnes’ companies have sold more than 1.3 million systems in more than 70 countries, and he held 33 U.S. patents in optics and lasers as well as air and water purification. Some of his most recent patents were related to AOP technology.
His consulting clients included NASA, Boeing and Lockheed.
Barnes was honored as a VIP at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center Inventors’ Ball, which recognized the community of inventors in the Huntsville area. NASA included one of his water purification systems, which was used on the Space Station, in an exhibit called “101 Rocket City Inventions.”
“He was just a true scientist, an absolute genius,” said Roy Reed of Memphis Pool. “I’ve known Ron since the ’80s. He was telling me about AOP back then! He was ahead of his time.”
Whenever Reed was set to try a new kind of installation, he’d check in with Barnes, who was always happy to provide advice and assistance.
“I’m proud to say that I had the opportunity to have him as a mentor,” Reed said. “He left some pretty deep footprints for others to walk in for years to come.”
