Alan Richard Reece (1927–2012) was the owner director of Pearson Engineering Ltd, Newcastle upon Tyne. In 2012 his company won the Queen's Award for Enterprise in Innovation. Pearson Engineering developed a range of counter-mine rollers that attach to the front of wheeled and tracked military vehicles to trigger an explosion as they drive over improvised explosive devices. The rollers get blown up and the main vehicle and its occupants stay safe.

Early life

He was born in London, 7 March 1927, the son of Richard Reece and Olive Reece. In 1948 he married Doreen Harrison, with whom he had two sons and a daughter.

Education and career

He was educated at

Harrow County School for Boys Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England * Harrow, London, a town in London * Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) * ...

and then Kings College (which had been part of

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

and was later renamed the

University of Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick un ...

), where he was awarded a BSc in mechanical engineering in 1947 and an MSc in agricultural engineering in 1950. Other qualifications include a MIMechE in 1957 and a MIAgrE 1960. His PhD was awarded by the

in 1964. He graduated as an apprentice at

Vickers Armstrong Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, wi ...

Ltd, Newcastle upon Tyne in 1948; and was a management trainee for the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

, in Dagenham from 1950 to 1952. He worked as a product engineer for

International Harvester The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated IH or International) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household equipment, and more. It wa ...

Co., Doncaster from 1952 to 1956, and then became an academic. He was lecturer, senior lecturer and then reader in agricultural engineering at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne from 1956 to 1984. While still a lecturer he founded Soil Machine Dynamics Ltd in 1971. He applied

soil mechanics Soil mechanics is a branch of soil physics and applied mechanics that describes the behavior of soils. It differs from fluid mechanics and solid mechanics in the sense that soils consist of a heterogeneous mixture of fluids (usually air and ...

to the design of earth-moving equipment. In the 1970s and 1980s large numbers of undersea cables were being laid but many were being damaged by trawler dragnets. Dr Reece found a way of burying cables under the seabed with a giant plough, which increased the reliability of international telephone calls and cut the cost of laying cables. He was visiting scientist to the US Army Tank Automotive Centre, Detroit from 1962 to 1963; editor of the Journal of Terramechanics from 1963 to 1973; and founder member and first president of the International Society for Terrain Vehicle Systems, 1964–67. He was lecturer in the Strategic Leadership Programme, Templeton College, Oxford, 1984–92. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in 2006 and given a lifetime achievement award, by the Entrepreneurs' Forum in 2009. He was ranked in fifth place in Management Today's Top 100 Entrepreneurs for 2011. He established the Reece Foundation in 2007 to channel company profits to good causes. In 2011 he was ranked third in the Sunday Times Giving List, with donations of over £20m. He was the biggest single donor to Cambridge University's

Institute for Manufacturing The Institute for Manufacturing (IfM) is part of the Department of Engineering of the University of Cambridge. Location The IfM is located in the Alan Reece building on the University's West Cambridge Site in the United Kingdom. Previously, ...

in 2009, whose new research building is named in his honour. He died on 31 December 2012. Obituaries were published in the Guardian, the Daily Telegraph and The Times.

Publications

Reece, Alan, ''Reviving British Manufacturing'', Civitas, 2011.

References

External links

*http://www.pearson-eng.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Reece, Alan 1927 births Academics of Newcastle University English mechanical engineers People educated at Harrow High School 2012 deaths Engineers from Tyne and Wear Agricultural engineers Alumni of King's College, Newcastle 20th-century English businesspeople