Alan Coster, Lawrie Cronin and Doug Skinner

Although this picture was taken well after the BCS era, Alan, Lawrie and Doug were closely involved with the BCS since the early days.

John Hurll

John is seen here measuring the VSWR of a precision RF termination using a GR900 slotted line and VSWR indicator. This picture was taken in Marconi Instruments' BCS approved laboratory No. 0051 in 1984.

Ralph Yell

Ralph worked in the RF and microwave facilities at RSRE Malvern, subsequently transferring to the National Physical Laboratory. He acted as Technical Assessor for the BCS for a number of years, focussing mainly on high frequency measurements.

Hewlett Packard - silver anniversary

Hewlett Packard's calibration laboratory at Winnersh, Berkshire, was first approved by the BCS in 1984. In 2009, Agilent (as they were then known) celebrated the 25th anniversary of the initial approval date.

The original grant of approval letter from the BCS, together with the Schedule, can be seen by selecting the link HP Grant of Approval below.

Now known as Keysight Technologies, the accreditation by UKAS continues and provides very comprehensive and state of the art electrical calibration facilities.

Noel Burgher

Noel worked at the Services Electrical Standards Centre (SESC, BCS Approval No. 0033) before joining NAMAS as Audit Measurement Officer. Here, Noel can be seen operating a Guildline direct current comparator bridge for measurement of standard resistors.

John Hurll and Simon Littleworth

John and Simon worked at the BCS approved laboratory (No. 0051) at Marconi Instruments' Service Division, located near Luton Airport. This picture was taken in the early 1980s.

Tribute to Doug Skinner

This tribute appeared in the Herts Advertiser shortly after Doug passed away in early 2014 (right click to enlarge).

Alan Hughes-Keast

Alan was Chief Metrologist at Solartron Instruments in Farnborough (BCS Approval No. 0011). The picture below, taken in 1984, shows Alan calibrating a model 7081 multimeter in the Solartron Standards Laboratory.

Marston Webb

Marston worked for many years at the BCS approved laboratories in the Services Electrical Standards Centre (Aquila) in Bromley, Kent. He also acted as Technical Assessor for the BCS, in the DC/LF electrical field.

Ian Reynolds

Ian joined Marconi Instruments' BCS approved laboratory (0051) in 1975 to help out with the workload; he was "on loan" from the Product Support department for "a maximum of two weeks".

It was a long two weeks. Four decades later, in 2015, Ian took his retirement, having worked in the laboratory and its successors for all those years.

A fascinating insight into Peter's life and interests can be found by selecting the link In Memoriam.pdf at the foot of this page.

In 1989 Peter was awarded the NCSL William A Wildhack award for his outstanding contributions to the field of metrology and measurement science. Further information can be found by clicking the link Wildhack Award.pdf at the foot of this page.

Peter's spidery handwriting was legendary - an example can be seen in the file Handwritten advice.pdf at the foot of this page.

John Summerfield and Colin Gaskell

When Marconi Instruments amalgamated its three approved laboratories into a single, custom designed facility in Stevenage, an open day was held to which customers, NAMAS staff and others associated with metrology were invited.

Here we see the accreditation certificate being presented by John Summerfield, Head of NAMAS, to Colin Gaskell, Managing Director of Marconi Instruments.

It is noted that, although this is in the early days of NAMAS, the certificate still contains the BCS logo.

Arnold Lynch and Bob Clarke

Arnold and Bob could often be seen at the technical conferences that were co-organised by the BCS; they both worked at the National Physical Laboratory. Arnold spent many years designing, building and verifying a Heydweiller Bridge for the measurement of conductivity in metals; this is believed to be the only example of this design in use anywhere in the world. Bob focussed mainly on dielectric measurements but also acted as Technical Assessor for the BCS in the field of RF and microwave measurements.

Marconi Instruments 40th anniversary

Marconi Instruments was one of the first applicants for BCS approval, initially for DC and low-frequency electrical quantities but followed shortly by a range of RF and microwave parameters.

The approval was granted on 2nd May 1968. To mark the 40th anniversary in 2008, Aeroflex hosted a celebratory lunch to which present and former staff members were invited. Here, John Hurll can be seen presenting Simon Littleworth, Head of Laboratory, with a memento to mark the occasion.