Geoffrey Charles Gaut
CBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(12 October 1909 – 18 August 1992) was a pioneering scientist in Britain's
semiconductor industry
The semiconductor industry is the aggregate of companies engaged in the design and fabrication of semiconductors and semiconductor devices, such as transistors and integrated circuits. It formed around 1960, once the fabrication of semiconduct ...
.
Early life
Gaut was born in
Penwortham
Penwortham () is a town in South Ribble, Lancashire, England, on the south bank of the River Ribble facing the city of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. The town is at the most westerly crossing point of the river, with major road and rail links cr ...
, Lancashire.
He was educated at the
Royal Grammar School Worcester. He went to
University College, Oxford
University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...
, gaining a degree in Chemistry. He remained at Oxford and researched
colloidal materials. During six years at Oxford, he was a member of the
Oxford University Air Squadron, where he learned to master aerobatics.
Career
Plessey
He joined
Plessey
The Plessey Company plc was a British electronics, defence and telecommunications company. It originated in 1917, growing and diversifying into electronics. It expanded after World War II by acquisition of companies and formed overseas compani ...
in 1934,
as the second graduate employee at the company, earning £6 a week, and rose to Chief Chemist. By the start of World War II, he was in charge of all the company's research and development. He volunteered to join the RAF, passed the necessary tests, and was commissioned as an officer. When
Allen Clark, of Plessey, was told of this, he coerced the RAF to stop Gaut's commission. Gaut would later work with Allen's brother,
John Clark. He would later qualify as a helicopter pilot aged 58.
He set up a new research laboratory at Caswell House in
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by
two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
, which became the
Caswell Research Laboratories. He became the Director of the site, followed later by
Derek Roberts
Sir Derek Harry Roberts, (28 March 1932 – 17 February 2021) was an English engineer who twice served as provost of University College London (UCL), from 1989 to 1999 and again from 2002 to 2003.‘ROBERTS, Sir Derek (Harry)’, Who's Who 2 ...
. In 1948 the researchers invented
radar absorbent material
In materials science, radiation-absorbent material, usually known as RAM, is a material which has been specially designed and shaped to absorb incident RF radiation (also known as non-ionising radiation), as effectively as possible, from as m ...
.
Britain's first research into solid-state silicon devices was begun in 1952, and in the late 1960s
Gunn diodes were developed.
On 8 January 1963, he joined Plessey's board of directors as Director of Research, becoming Director of Technology in 1969. He retired in 1985.
British research
He was a board member of the
National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) for many years from April 1966.
Personal life
He married in 1937 and had a son and daughter. He was appointed CBE in the 1973
New Year Honours. He was an organist and pianist.
References
External links
Obituaryin ''The Independent''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaut, Geoffrey
1909 births
1992 deaths
Alumni of University College, Oxford
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
English chemists
People educated at the Royal Grammar School Worcester
People from Penwortham