Dr. Stan Owers' Profile Description
In a few words I was concerned about the status of technology in the UK. As a mechanical and aeronautical engineer much of my working life was spent in manufacturing industry. In 1951, as an aspiring professional engineer, my first job was in the research department at D. Napier & Sons. Napier's was a famous engineering company with a history of supplying engines for record attempts such as Malcolm Campbell's Bluebird in 1928, Henry Segrave's Golden Arrow in 1929, and John Cobb's Railton Mobil Special in 1947. At Napier's, I worked on a number of extremely interesting and challenging projects including: (1) high speed diesel engines for Motor Torpedo Boats and the Deltic railway locomotives, (2) Nomad compounded diesel/gas turbine engines for Coastal Command aircraft, (3) Eland prop/gas turbine for conversion of piston-engined aircraft, also the Fairey Rotodyne helicopter, and (4) a constant speed hydraulic drive for use in V-bombers.
In January 1960, after nearly 9 years at Napiers, I joined Research and Engineering at the Ford Motor Company. In 1965 I was Manager Commercial Vehicle Testing when the Transit Van was first launched. Subsequently I worked on the design and development programmes for 1968 Escort, Cortina Mk 2, 3, and 4, followed by Capri 1 and Capri 2, and finally Sierra. I was in Research and Engineering at Fords for 30 years.
In the early 1970s, I began to ponder why it was the UK had given the world the Industrial Revolution, but had been in relative industrial decline ever since.
How did I come to be at Ultralab?
As I said earlier I was concerned about the status of technology in the UK, but also our society's prospects for continuing economic survival. As adults, we know the importance of an income to set-up home, but as a society we have not transferred that model to the national situation, and furthermore we do not understand the dominant role of technology in those processes in our lives. But I was to have an opportunity to research these issues.
In the late 1980s, Ford introduced a secondment programme to rejuvenate its management succession programme. More than 100 managers were seconded to local community projects. I was the 12th manager to volunteer for secondment, and in January 1987, I became a business counsellor at the newly opened Essex Young Enterprise Centre (EYEC) in Basildon.
The EYEC was a joint initiative between the LEA and Essex County Council. Hence teachers were encouraged to visit the EYEC. During tours of the 30 workspace complex, we explained what the young people were doing in their businesses, and our role as business counsellors. As an outcome of these tours, it became evident that many teachers were provoked by the concepts of 'profit' and 'wealth creation'. I regarded this as my first breakthrough in a quest to understand the UKs relative industrial decline.
After 17 months at the EYEC, I wished to get closer to the subculture that could hold such views. The manager responsible for secondment at Ford knew of my interest to understand our relative industrial decline. After discussing my experiences at the EYEC, he was supportive of my wish to move, and already had an initiative in mind. Understanding British Industry (UBI) was the Education Foundation of the CBI, and had three aims:
- to improve understanding of industry, commerce and wealth creation among teachers of secondary school pupils.
- to help teachers to influence school curricula and examinations, bringing the lessons taught in school more into line with the needs of adult life.
- to improve understanding of the education system among people in industry and business.
During the late 1980s there were many initiatives to promote economic and industrial awareness in education. In September 1988 I joined UBI as a Project Officer. At the time they were conducting pilot trials of teacher placements in industry or commerce for a period of two weeks. Funded by the DTI, this programme was deemed so successful that a contract was awarded to UBI to run the Teacher Placement Service (TPS) on a national basis; so I also became TPS network manager for Essex Herts and Beds. In these capacities I met Professor Stephen Heppell.
At the end of 1989, on hearing of the cessation of my secondment and subsequent retirement, Stephen invited me to look him up 'because you never know what might develop'. Driven by continuing concern for the UKs relative industrial decline, Stephen's invitation beckoned before the second week of my retirement in January 1990.
At Stephen's suggestion, I joined as an Industrialist in Residence; I have been involved in numerous projects, and experienced a considerable personal learning curve. Early in my association with ULTRALAB, Stephen asked 'what would you like to get out of this experience?' I replied I would like to do a higher degree, and learn something about computers. After a few months, I was enrolled on a 4 year Modular Masters Degree course in Education, and I had my first laptop computer.
When I graduated in September 1994, Stephen said 'Why don't you keep going?' This was both a surprise and a delight, and gave me the opportunity to research some of the areas related to my concerns. So in April 1995, I registered with Anglia Polytechnic University to 'Research the place and perception of technology in the National Curriculum'. My Doctoral thesis expresses very real concern for the economic prosperity of the UK and the role of technology in those processes. In summary, we have a society that wants the best that technology can provide, but it is a society that is reluctant to recognise or indeed to participate in the processes of provision. My thesis and the appendices can be downloaded from:
http://www.ultralab.ac.uk/tools/
This URL takes you to the front page of my web site which should be explained. The culture of tools has been the constant evolutionary companion of humankind. Indeed we are utterly dependent on our tool- and technology-culture to function as individuals and as a society. We use tools and technologies as tools as extensions of ourselves to enhance our capability and productivity, and humankind has been doing so since before the Stone Age. We are all socialised into using tools from a very early age.
The front page of my web site attempts briefly to portray our evolutionary dependence on our tool- and technology-culture. The stone hand-axe,
the computer chip, a recent computer with the image of a F1 Grand Prix car, and a micrometer representing precision technology.
Henry Maudslay (1771-1831) an engineer and machine-toolmaker made the breakthrough in precision flat surfaces, eventually paving the way for mass production.
Our tool- and technnology-culture impinges on every facet of the way we live including transportation, shelter, sport, clothing, nourishment, medical care, communication and entertainment.
Members of staff at Ultralab, part of Anglia Ruskin University and formerly Anglia Polytechnic University, continue to work on raising the importance of technology in the way we live and Richard Millwood, Malcolm Moss or Colin Elsey will be happy to discuss their projects with you.
I may be contacted through: stan@ultralab.net