My office has glass walls and the door is generally open. I use a square of marble for a desk and I have a Heron Parigi drawing board for sketching up ideas, but I spend most of my time in the lab with my engineers.
1. The telescopic forklift is like an extension of the human arm. Before JCB, digging was done with a shovel. Then in 1953 Joe Bamford introduced his hydraulic excavator. He had the diggers fitted with electric kettles so the operator could have his tea break in the cab.
2. I keep a handheld vacuum cleaner nearby. It’s useful for those times when a meeting turns into lunch and back again. I create cleaning machines, so I have no excuses for failing to maintain immaculate surroundings!
3. We’ve worked for ten years to develop the fastest motor in a home appliance. The impeller in our tiny brushless motor can spin ten times faster than the engine of a Boeing 747. Electric motors are at the heart of a machine’s energy consumption and performance.
4. Our latest invention is a fan without blades. The air travels down an aerofoil ramp, accelerating and drawing in surrounding air. We call this inducement and entrainment — the volume of air coming out of the fan is 15 times greater than the air going in to it.
5. These are books on my favourite engineers and inventors. I sometimes wish Brunel’s biography was as strong as his structures — my copy is in pieces. My Phaidon’s Designs Classics are stuffed with my notes.
6. Frank Whittle developed the concept of the jet engine in the 1920s, but it took ten years to make it work. When you’ve struggled as an inventor, it can be helpful to remind yourself that others have dealt with adversity. This model jet plane was put together by hand years ago — the wheels keep dropping off but I still enjoy fixing it.
7. Kenneth Grange, the industrial designer, came to visit and sent me his desk lamp and this pencil holder. Kenneth’s work appeals to me because it always takes function as its starting point.
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