Gwyn Parfitt

Gwyn was a couple of years older than me but was introduced to me by the school librarian, Mrs Gordon, as she knew of my interest in Electronics and that the current school curriculum didn't cover that whereas Gwyn was 'well into it'
He lived with his parents in Hillview Gardens, Hendon NW4.
He was a 'G8' radio ham and we spent a few nights on radio events called 'competitions' at various locations but the one I remember most was at Hampstead Heath Observatory, close to Whitestone pond.
His family were also one of the first I knew that owned a colour TV and I used to go over to watch Star Trek (the original series, obviously!)

In 2010, his nephew, Doug, discovered his name on this site and contacted me (so it can and does work!).

Sadly, Gwyn had passed away in 2005 due to Cancer. At the time he was living in Thailand where he was cremated but the ashes were returned to his homeland of Bridgend in Wales.

Gwyn had been successful in life though and I include part of the correspondence from his nephew to illustrate this:

Gwyn won the Queens Award for Enterprise (Innovation) in his twenties for his invention of the CAT scanner in the 1970s. They are still in use today, although slightly more sophisticated now:

http://www.surveyexpress.co.uk/Safety-Equipment/Cable-Avoidance/c-1-110-111/

As a result of this invention, he left the country for tax purposes, living in Switzerland and Austria. To keep himself busy, he designed electronic jewellery, which was very novel back then, but is common place now.

His next 'landmark' invention was a navigational system for shipping. Originally, it was designed to help Australia win the America's Cup (sailing). It was then developed for commercial use in ships of all sizes (and then vehicles). If you put "Gwyn Parfitt" into Google, it will reveal a number of his patents (often along with Hugh Agnew who did the patent applications).