Charlie Rudd
Charlie Rudd | |
|---|---|
| Residence | Uralla, NSW, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Known for | Astro Physics, Production Engineering, Manufacturing processes |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astro Physics, Production Engineering, Manufacturing processes |
Charlie Rudd was an Australian foundryman and amateur astronomer based in Uralla, New South Wales. He was the founding owner of the Phoenix Foundry, a bronze-casting works in Uralla, and was known for combining his interests in production engineering and manufacturing with a lifelong passion for astronomy.
Biography
Rudd lived and worked in Uralla, New South Wales, Australia. In 1982 he and Henry Raymond were approached by a local funeral director to reopen the recently vacated Uralla foundry to produce cast bronze plaques, and the business was re-established as the Phoenix Foundry in 1983. Under Rudd's ownership the foundry specialised in cast bronze memorial and commemorative products, work rooted in production engineering and manufacturing processes.
Alongside his industrial work, Rudd maintained a strong personal interest in astronomy. He died before the completion of the public project he had helped initiate, and is referred to in later accounts as "the late Charlie Rudd."
Work
Through the Phoenix Foundry, Rudd applied casting and manufacturing techniques to the production of bronze plaques and memorial products in Uralla. He is best remembered publicly for co-creating the "Constellations of the South" project together with artist Carl Merton, a series of sculptures inspired by the pair's shared passion for astronomy and intended to capture the southern circumpolar constellations. Rudd was involved in constructing the first two sculptures of the project, which was begun about two decades before its community celebration in 2024.