Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine October 2017 - 56

DOI. No. 10.1109/MAES.2017.170003

AESS Historical Interview:
One-On-One With Hugh Griffiths
Interviewer: Lorenzo Lo Monte

INTRODUCTION TO THE CONVERSATION
In this sixth historical interview, a fascinating conversation with
Hugh Griffiths by Lorenzo Lo Monte, both valued members of the
IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS), AESS
offers our members insight into the people behind the many great
contributions that grace our field. While these interviews will
document historical events, they are also intended to give readers insights into the events and critical decisions that shaped the
research, technical accomplishments, and career of our society's
most legendary contributors.
Prof. Hugh Griffiths holds the THALES/Royal Academy
Chair of RF Sensors in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at University
College London, England. From
2006-2008 he was Principal of
the Defence Academy College
of Management and Technology.
He has published over five
hundred papers and technical
articles in the fields of radar,
antennas and sonar. He has received several awards and prizes, including the IEEE Picard
Medal (2017), the IEEE AES
Mimno Award (2015), the IET
A.F. Harvey Prize (2012) and
the IEEE AES Nathanson Award
Professor Hugh Griffiths
(1996). He has also received the
Lord Brabazon Premium of the
IERE and the Mountbatten and Maxwell Premium Awards of the
IEE. He is a Fellow of the IET, Fellow of the IEEE, and in 1997 he
was elected to Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
He served as President of the IEEE Aerospace and Electronic
Systems Society for 2012/2013, and he is an IEEE AES Distinguished Lecturer. He has been a member of the IEEE AES Radar
Systems Panel since 1989, serving as Chair from 2007-2009, and he
chaired the Working Group which revised the IEEE Radar Definitions Standard P686 and reaffirmed the Radar Letter Band Standard.

INTERVIEW
Lorenzo to Hugh: Prof. Hugh Griffiths, nice to meet you
today. You have an impressive career full of achievements
56

and successes, not to mention many honors and awards. We
believe that it is important for researchers and students alike
to understand the person's history and philosophy behind
these successes, either to inspire or just as a curiosity. It will
be my pleasure to interview you.
So, let's start! Tell us about your family and your youth.
When did you start showing an interest in the EE world?
Hugh: Thanks for the kind words Lorenzo.
I was born in Bournemouth, on the south coast of England, on
22 March 1956. My family name, Griffiths, is originally Welsh
and indeed my father grew up near Pontypridd in South Wales, so
I regard myself as Welsh rather than English.
My father was an engineer,
serving as a Major in the Royal
Engineers in WW2 in India, Sicily and Italy. Because of the war,
he never had any academic qualifications in engineering, but he
had a wonderful instinct for making things and making them work,
and he built the house in which
our family lived. He died in 2012,
at the age of 91.
My mother helped my father
with his business, but always
found time for us, and we were
a close and happy family (Figure
1). I am the eldest of four brothers
- no sisters.
When I was about ten, my father helped me build a simple
radio receiver: a crystal set. I remember the thrill when I heard a
scratchy radio signal in the headphones. My schoolteacher gave
me a transistor radio, which I dismantled.

I was always
more interested in
the experimental
side, such as
microwaves,
meteor scatter
and moonbounce.

Lorenzo: I am happy to hear that you inherited the
engineering spirit of your father. What about other
disciplines? How were you at school?
Hugh: At school, I did quite well academically - not just in science and mathematics, but also in history and languages. I was also
very keen on sport, and played rugby, hockey and athletics for the
school (Figure 2). You won't believe it, but my personal best for
200 m was 23.9 seconds!

IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE

OCTOBER 2017

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