Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society

Keywords Royal Aeronautical Society

Martin Sharrocks (Plate 10) managing director of Avionic Components Limited and Aliens Team Limited, both Hampson Industries plc companies, has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

 Plate 10Martin Sharrocks

Born and educated in Coventry, the birthplace in 1930 of the gas-turbine engine under the late Sir Frank Whittle, Martin has dedicated most of his working life to gas-turbine component manufacture and to the encouragement of young engineers to join the aerospace industry.

In 1986 he was invited to become a Liveryman of London's Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers which conferred the Freedom of the City of London. Soon after becoming a Liveryman he revitalised the way in which the engineering sponsorship was applied. So successful has this been that Cambridge University now works with the Livery Company to ensure that high-calibre students are given the appropriate encouragement to become engineers.

Martin is a member of the Industrial Advisory Committee for the School of Engineering of Coventry University and is the only founder member still serving since its formation in the 1980s. The school is one of the largest engineering schools in the country.

Three years ago he was responsible for the conception and development of Aliens Team Limited, an independent company dedicated to the supply of components to ageing aircraft to keep them in the air