Person McMurtry; Sir; David Robert (1940 - 2024); engineer, inventor and business leader McMurtry David Robert Sir engineer, inventor and business leader 1940 - 2024 Irish British Male Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland 05/03/1940 19400305 Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom 09/12/2024 20241209

Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom

Engineer, inventor and business leader Engineering Education: Mountjoy Schoo [now the Mount Temple Comprehensive School]; Career: Moved to the United Kingdom (1958); Apprentice, Bristol Aeroplane Company (1958); Deputy Chief Designer and Assistant Chief of Engine Design, Filton, Rolls-Royce Holdings (1966); worked on Concorde's engines and designed his first trigger probe (1973); set up Reinshaw plc with his former colleague John Deer (1973); acquired the patents for his trigger probes from Rolls-Royce Holdings and began to exploit the patents himself (1987); became Royal Designer for Industry (1989); disposed of holdings entire holdings in Renishaw (2021); stepped down as executive chairman of Renishaw and remained on the board as a non-executive director (2024). Memberships: Royal Academy of Engineering Awards/Medals: General Pierre Nicolau Award Honours: CBE 1994: for services to science and technology, and in 2001 was appointed a Knight Bachelor for services to design and innovation. Spouse: ​(m. 1966) Teresa Adams. Children: 3 Engineer, inventor, and business leader who had been Chairman and Chief Executive of Renishaw for more than forty years. A world leader in measurement systems with over 3,000 employees in 32 countries, Renishaw plays a role in the inspection and manufacture of nearly all cars and aircrafts worldwide. David founded the company in 1973 when he was still an assistant chief designer at Rolls Royce. In order to conduct a measurement of an instrumentation pipe on one of Concorde's Olympus engines, he spent a weekend at home developing the first ever touch-trigger probe, an innovation which inspired him to establish his own company. Fellow 19/05/2011 71 The Royal Society Fellows Directory, Sir David McMurtry CBE FRS, [URL: https://royalsociety.org/people/david-mcmurtry-11938/; last accessed: 16/04/2025] BBC News, Renishaw founder and Concorde engineer dies, Dave Harvey, 9 December 2024, [URL: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8xjq2wzddlo; last accessed: 16/04/2025] The Engineer, Late great engineers: David McMurtry - engineer with values, Nick Smith, 10 Apr 2025, [URL: https://www.theengineer.co.uk/content/in-depth/late-great-engineers-sir-david-mcmurtry-engineer-with-values; last accessed: 16/04/2025] International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) 2nd edition - ICA 2004 ISBN 2-9521932-2-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 RCN R81302 The past Fellows entries are under continuous revision. If you have queries or additional information to contribute, please contact Library@royalsociety.org. Content in external sources is not controlled by the Royal Society and historical sources may include content that is now unacceptable. Reviewed on 16/04/2025 as part of the Name Authority Project update. NA9746 23/05/2011 Joanna 08/09/2025 RS_NET\VidaM Yes 5a041489-112a-4751-a1ac-3353cafaa817