Plaque honours career of British engineer

. The occasion was marked by members of the Ricardo family as well as the senior management team of Ricardo plc, the £146 million turnover company originally founded by Sir Harry which bears his name today. Educated at Rugby and Trinity College, Cambridge where he studied mechanical engineering, Sir Harry took an early interest in the internal combustion engine. During his time at Cambridge he contributed to pioneering work in the understanding of the problem of combustion knock. As a student at the age of 21 he filed his first patent from the address at Bedford Square. In 1915 he Sir Harry Ricardo formed Engine Patents Ltd, the precursor of today’s Ricardo plc. He made a significant contribution to the then war effort in the development of the new engine for the Mark V tank. His work on fuels during the early 1920s included the development of a means of quantifying the performance of different fuels, which became the forerunner of today’s Octane rating scale. His company also pioneered the automotive diesel engine and was responsible for the engine developed in 1935 that powered the Citroën Rosalie, the world’s first commercially available diesel passenger car. Ricardo again contributed to the war effort in World War II, assisting in the design of the combustion chambers and fuel control system of Sir Frank Whittle’s jet engine, and the development of an oxygen enrichment system for the Merlin engines of the RAF’s Mosquito night fighters. In 1949 he received the title of Knight Bachelor from King George VI. He died in 1974. Speaking at the unveiling of the Blue Plaque, Rodney Westhead, the present Chief Executive of Ricardo said: “Sir Harry Ricardo was one of the leading engineers of his time whose work has had a positive and lasting impact for all of us. His pioneering and innovative efforts in the development of the internal combustion engine brought forward technologies which dramatically improved the performance, fuel consumption and reduced the emissions of the world’s transportation from cars and trucks, to aeroplanes, trains and ships. In our work today perhaps the highest accolade that we can aim to achieve is that we keep alive the spirit of technical innovation, practical engineering and entrepreneurialism fostered by Sir Harry Ricardo during his lifetime for the betterment of our planet for future generations to come.” More information from Ricardoy TS