50th Anniversary Reunion

After graduating from Glasgow, I spent 4 years as a research and development engineer in the Radiation Laboratory of EMI, Hayes, Middlesex. During this period, I attended day – release classes at London University and obtained an M.Sc. in Microwave Physics.

I married in 1968 and, in the same year, left for the United States where I obtained a position in the Microwave Equipment Department of Ford Aerospace Corporation in Palo Alto , California.   I then spent the next 3 years happily engaged in the design of microwave antennas for communication satellite applications. Our first daughter was born in 1970. 

In 1971, mainly for family reasons, we decided to return to the UK where I continued to specialize in the design of satellite antennas, this time with Marconi Research Laboratories, Great Baddow, Essex. Our second daughter was born in 1972.

After 5 years at Great Baddow, I found myself becoming more interested in the broader aspects of satellite communications and I therefore moved to British Aerospace in Stevenage, Herts to become a systems engineer in the Space Systems Division. I eventually became a Payload Manager i.e. the person with overall responsibility for the design, manufacture and test of a satellite's communications payload. I stayed in this position for the rest of my career at BAE and was involved in the management of a number of major international projects. The job could be very demanding at times but it gave me the opportunity, which I welcomed, of spending extensive periods of time working abroad, mainly in Europe, USA and Japan.

I retired at the end of 2000, since which time life has proceeded at a more leisurely pace. We still do a fair amount of travelling but now it is strictly for pleasure. Most frequent destinations tend to be California and Australia where we have several close friends and relatives. When not travelling, the main pleasures in life are golf, theatre and enjoying the company of our four young grandchildren who all live within a few minutes of our home in St Albans. I try to keep in touch with science and technology through my membership of the IET.