Sir David McMurtry and John Deer, co-founders of engineering company Renishaw, have been awarded the Swan medal by the Institute of Physics.
Sir David McMurtry, chairman and chief executive, and John Deer, deputy chairman, will be presented with the Swan medal, named after British physicist and chemist Sir Joseph Swan, at a ceremony in October.
The medal citation recognises the Renishaw founders “for their role in founding Renishaw plc and leading it to become one of the world’s principal manufacturers of metrology equipment.”
The citation continued: “Given the fundamental importance of positional and dimensional measurement the company subsequently found many opportunities to expand into sectors as diverse as machine tool automation, machine calibration, motion control, spectroscopy and surgical robotics in the intervening period. This was achieved through a significant and consistent commitment to research and development.”
The annual award recognises contributions to the organisation or application of physics in an industrial or commercial context and past winners include Dr Graham Batey of Oxford Instruments NanoScience and Professor Sir Michael Pepper of University College London.
Ben Taylor, Renishaw’s assistant chief executive, said: “We feel extremely proud of Sir David and John, who are modest men that have created a highly successful global company.”
