The Allen Clark Research Centre was a solid-state physics optoelectronics research centre of the Plessey company at Caswell, near Towcester, Northamptonshire, England.[1][2]
Allen Clark Research Centre | |
---|---|
General information | |
Type | Physics research centre |
Address | Northamptonshire NN12 8EQ |
Coordinates | 52°09′14″N 1°02′56″W / 52.154°N 1.049°W |
Elevation | 30 m (98 ft) |
Completed | 1964 |
Inaugurated | 20 March 1964 |
Owner | Lumentum |
Dimensions | |
Other dimensions | 25 acres (10 ha) |
History
editIt was opened on Friday 20 March 1964 by the Duke of Edinburgh. He toured the laboratories and took lunch there, in the company of James Orr and the Earl of Kilmuir. The Duke unveiled a memorial to Sir Allen Clark.[3][4]
The site was named after Sir Allen George Clark (1898–1962), who was succeeded by his son Sir John Allen Clark (1926–2001).
The site won the 1974 Queen's Award for Technology, for silicon integrated circuits.[5]
The Duke of Kent visited on the morning of Thursday 9 May 1974.[6]
Scientists
edit- Sir Derek Roberts CBE FRS FREng (1932–2021), former director
Research
editIt worked with the Physics department of the University of Sussex.[7] It worked with Square D of the US in the late 1970s.
It conducted early work on fibre optic networks in the mid-1980s, with the fibre made by BICC, with a 107km test fibre-optic cable, with dispersion-shifted monomode fibre. It developed spectrum-splicing for fibres in the mid-1980s.[8]
Successor
editThe site is now Caswell Science Park,[9] run by Lumentum Technology UK.
See also
edit- Invention of the integrated circuit
- Timeline of electrical and electronic engineering
- Taplow Court, has carried out similar work for BT
References
edit- ^ "Allen Clark Research Centre of the Plessey Co., Ltd., Caswell, Towcester, Northants". Nature. 206 (4984): 555–557. 8 May 1965. Bibcode:1965Natur.206..555.. doi:10.1038/206555a0. ISSN 1476-4687. S2CID 4225356.
- ^ "Caswell history". strowger-net.telefoniemuseum.nl. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
- ^ Times Friday 20 March 1964, page 8
- ^ Times Saturday 21 March 1964, page 10
- ^ Times Monday 22 April 1974, page 18
- ^ Times Friday 10 May 1974, page 24
- ^ Times Thursday 8 July 1965, page 8
- ^ Times Monday 29 April 1985, page 18
- ^ "Caswell Park". Archived from the original on 23 September 2009. Retrieved 4 November 2021.