Isle of Wight College - Main Hall

Doors 17:00

Lecture 1800 - 1945 BST

Arranged by the Royal Aeronautical Society

Alan Jenkins as worked all his career with Plessey/BAE Systems in the RADAR Industry and became a Principal Lecturer in RADAR systems for BAE Systems before retiring, so is well qualified to present this overview of the workings and applications of RADAR systems through the ages.

The scope of his lecture will be quite broad covering a range of topics under the overall title of Radar - 'Almost Magical'. Firstly, ‘Radar all around us’ – discussing how radar affects our daily lives from 'will it rain today' to keeping us safe in the air, on the sea and even on the roads and then, ‘Back to the Beginning’, - with some video clips of radar development up to and during WW2, including the crucial role it played in the defeat of Nazi Germany.

Alan’s talk will also consider, ‘Nature's echolocation masters’ in providing a brief look at the best known users of echolocation in the natural world.

All Are Welcome - RAeS Members and Non-Members

FREE ADMISSION & PARKING - Although Small Donations Welcomed.

Endorsed CPD Attendance Certificates for CEng, I.Eng & EngTech available on request.

More Info:- Graham Thomas - RAeS IoW Branch Secretary - [email protected]

Speaker Details

Alan Jenkins

Alan is an ‘Islander’ and since his school days he has been fascinated by electronics so was pleased to join the Plessey Radar company in 1968, where he worked on testing Radar Units.

When in 1970 the Marine Radar Department was moved to the mainland, Alan stayed on the Island and was subsequently offered a post in the Radar Training and Demonstration Dept. where, as a Principal Lecturer, he taught students from all around the world in the maintenance and repair of their Radar systems.

His expertise covered many of the company’s products, ranging from small tracking radars right up to the SAMPSON multi-function dual-faced active electronically scanned array radar which forms part of the main defence system used on the RN Type 45 Destroyers. This system was derived from the Multi-function Electronically Scanned Adaptive Radar (MESAR) program, which could detect various types of targets to a distance of over 320km and was capable of tracking hundreds of targets simultaneously.

Alan remained with the company until he retired in 2013.