MARTIN Mallinson owes a huge debt to his old school, Colne Valley High.
He’s been living in the beautiful town of Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, for many years, and has been absent from the Colne Valley for a quarter of a century.
He returned recently after hearing about the death of his former headmaster, Tom Rolf.
He is director of design engineering for ESS Technology, a silicon chip design company.
“Tom Rolf’s obituary reminded me of his commitment to good education for all, no matter what the social background, and that good education is an essential element of good society,” said Martin.
“My own life would have unfolded very differently were it not for the excellent start that I received from the motivated teachers of CVHS during my years there in the early 1970s.
“I was encouraged to try for Oxford, an ambition that would never have crossed the mind of a kid from Crimble and from very much a working class background.
“I am pleased to say that I won the Bullock scholarship of 1974 and set off from Huddersfield to study Physics (or Natural Sciences as it was called then) in New College, Oxford.”
Since his Oxford days, Martin’s life has been spent in electronics. If anyone has flown in an Airbus or Boeing plane with a certain engine configuration (the CFM-36, for buffs), then you have been held in the air by a silicon chip from the kid from Crimble and CVHS.
If you have bought a DVD player in the past few years, it is very likely that it is powered by another of Martin’s silicon chips.