Eye on the future

In-Depth

Although Roke Manor Research is renowned for contract R&D, managing director Paul Stein says the company is doing a lot less ‘R’ and far more ‘D’ these days. Niall Firth reports.

Armchair cricket fans thrilled by this summer’s Ashes series will also have enjoyed the benefits of a technology that has revolutionised televised sport.

Hawkeye, the advanced image-processing technology that predicts the flight of a cricket ball to within millimetres, was born in the leafy Hampshire idyll that houses one of the UK’s most prolific R&D centres.

A wholly owned subsidiary of Siemens since 1991, Roke Manor Research has existed in one form or another since the 1950s. It was founded by Plessey and developed Ptarmigan, the Army’s communications system that is still in use today.

Managing director since 1996, Paul Stein has seen a real change in focus for Roke Manor since those heady times.

While the Plessey days were what he describes as the company’s zenith, the company still has an annual turnover of £35m and employs 330 engineering staff.

Now he views Roke as a contract design services company, and one that is more bottom-line focused than ever before.

Register now to continue reading

Thanks for visiting The Engineer. You’ve now reached your monthly limit of premium content. Register for free to unlock unlimited access to all of our premium content, as well as the latest technology news, industry opinion and special reports. 

Benefits of registering

  • In-depth insights and coverage of key emerging trends

  • Unrestricted access to special reports throughout the year

  • Daily technology news delivered straight to your inbox

Register
Or continue by

Signing in with your registered email address