The Hirst Research Centre, also known as the GEC Hirst Research Centre or GEC Research Laboratories, was established in 1919 at Wembley, Middlesex, by the

General Electric Company The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and defence electronics, communications, and engineering. The company was founded in 1886, was Britain's largest private employer with over 250 ...

History

Formally opened in 1923, the site at East Lane, Wembley was one of the first specialised industrial research laboratories to be built in Britain. The centre was named after

Hugo Hirst Hugo Hirst, 1st Baron Hirst (26 November 1863 – 22 January 1943), known as Sir Hugo Hirst, Bt, between 1925 and 1934, was a German-born British industrialist. Born near Munich, Hugo Hirsch became a naturalized British subject in 1883 and chang ...

, one of the founders of the company that would become the General Electric Company. One of the centre's most famous achievements was the production of the

cavity magnetron The cavity magnetron is a high-power vacuum tube used in early radar systems and currently in microwave ovens and linear particle accelerators. It generates microwaves using the interaction of a stream of electrons with a magnetic field while ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the concept of which was established by Randall and

Boot A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is cle ...

working at

Birmingham University , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

. Staff of the centre were also important in developing

radars Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, ...

for use during the war. The 60 m

radio mast Radio masts and towers are typically tall structures designed to support antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. There are two main types: guyed and self-supporting structures. They are among the tallest human-made ...

at the back of the building became, along with

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

, one of the landmarks of the area. Hirst was instrumental in setting up the National Grid system which provides power to the whole of the UK. The centre also worked on the design of electrical power systems for the British railway network. In the 1990s the organisation moved to

Borehamwood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...

, Hertfordshire. After GEC left the Wembley site, it was used as the set for some scenes of the 1995 film ''

The Young Poisoner's Handbook ''The Young Poisoner's Handbook'' is a 1995 black comedy-drama film based on the life of Graham Young, more commonly known as "The Teacup Murderer". It was directed by Benjamin Ross and written by Ross and Jeff Rawle. The film stars Hugh O'Conor ...

''.

Notable Hirst employees and scientists

Clifford Paterson was the organisation's first director, and held that position until his death in 1948. Others working there included: *

Derek Abbott Derek Abbott (born 3 May 1960) is a British-Australian physicist and electronic engineer. He was born in South Kensington, London, UK. From 1969 to 1971, he was a boarder at Copthorne Preparatory School, Sussex. From 1971 to 1978, he attended ...

* Jean Bacon * David Bevan *

Colin Cherry Edward Colin Cherry (23 June 1914 – 23 November 1979) was a British cognitive scientist whose main contributions were in focused auditory attention, specifically the cocktail party problem regarding the capacity to follow one conversatio ...

Robert James Clayton Sir Robert James Clayton CBE (30 October 1915 – 20 June 1998) was an English electronics engineer who was notable in the area of defence and industrial electronics. He worked for the GEC conglomerate for the whole of his career, becoming t ...

* Paul Hendricks *

Cyril Hilsum Cyril Hilsum (born 17 May 1925) is a British physicist and academic. Hilsum was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1983 for the inventiveness and leadership in introducing III-V semiconductors into electronic technology ...

* Daryl E. Hooper * Daniel McCaughan * Sanjay Jha *

Bernard de Neumann Frederick Bernard de Neumann (known in Austria and Germany as ''Bernhard von Neumann''; (15 December 1943 – 18 April 2018) was a British mathematician, computer scientist, inventor, and naval historian. He was educated at the Royal Hospital ...

* Clifford Copland Paterson *

Michael Pepper Sir Michael Pepper (born 10 August 1942) is a British physicist notable for his work in semiconductor nanostructures. Early life Pepper was born on 10 August 1942 to Morris and Ruby Pepper. He was educated at St Marylebone Grammar School, a ...

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 ...

* Bruce Robertson * Michael John Smith * Boris Townsend *

Ian Robert Young Ian Robert Young (11 January 1932 – 27 September 2019) was a British medical physicist, known for his work in the field of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Life He was educated at Sedbergh School and later studied physics at Aberdeen Un ...

References

External links

Photo of part of the Hirst building in East Lane, Wembley

Job advertisement for GEC Hirst Research Center
''

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publishe ...

'', 7 July 1988, p.80 {{authority control Companies based in the London Borough of Brent Engineering research institutes Former buildings and structures in the London Borough of Brent General Electric Company History of electronic engineering History of telecommunications in the United Kingdom Research and development in the United Kingdom Research institutes in London

History

Notable Hirst employees and scientists

See also

References

External links