Avionics News May 2016 - 58

The Dickinson family: Jessica, Alison, Peter and James

AVIATION ACES

Continued from page 57

But again, his timing was off.
"When we got to product development, there was a major
recession," he said. "There were factors working against us: Pan
Am Flight 103, the first Gulf War, airlines going out of business
and airlines putting off their orders."
From that experience, Dickinson learned that despite his best
efforts in hiring a professional salesperson that he was essentially
the best person to explain the new technology.
"I went everywhere and spoke to anyone I could - in the U.S.,
Canada and Europe," he said. "After a while, we came out of the
recession and began to get some traction in the market."
At that time, BAE decided to dispose of all its peripheral
activities and that Spectrum Technologies would not be part of
the group for the long term. It was early in the life of the company, so Dickinson arranged a management buyout. Today, managers and other shareholders own 80 percent of the company,
while BAE retains the remainder.
Rapid growth followed. In those early years, sales were doubling every two years. Along with Dickinson working with SAE
and ASD, SAE's European equivalent, Spectrum Technologies
helped establish the industry standards for marking wire.
As for his greatest challenge during this time, Dickinson said,
"Once we got going, the challenge was to get in front of the
right people, past that initial threshold, getting critical mass, and
getting accepted. Once the technology was accepted, we were
challenged to keep up with demand."
Dickinson enjoys leading a tech company that's about innovation, pushing the boundaries and being on the leading edge of
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2016

technology in the development of new products.
"I am probably unusual in that I can still use what I learned
during my Ph.D. studies on a day-to-day basis," he added.
"Research for many Ph.D.s typically gets put on a shelf and
generally forgotten."
Although he doesn't have much free time, Dickinson did earn
his balloon license.
"It's not a means to get from point A to point B, but it's great
fun," he said.
He and his family have always enjoyed travel, and his wife
and children have been able to accompany him on some business trips.
Now with offices worldwide, Spectrum Technologies exports
95 percent of its products and has been given the Queen's
Award for international trade three times. In recognition of
this, Dickinson and a number of his team members traveled
to Buckingham Palace where they met Queen Elizabeth II at a
special reception.
"To have the company recognized in that way is tremendously
exciting, and I'm exceptionally proud of it," he said.
What also makes him proud is that his technology has
become the international aerospace standard. At heart, though,
he remains a scientist.
"Being a scientist, you have to live with the facts as they are,"
he said. "I think being a true scientist, you must be truthful to
your core. You can't bend facts to make it convenient. Scientific
truth is incredibly important." q

To learn more about Spectrum Technologies,
visit spectrumtech.com.

http://www.spectrumtech.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News May 2016