John Bodonyi
John (Janos) Bodonyi (1930-2010) graduated from the Technical University in Budapest in 1952, winning soon after a special medal for innovative design for the Budapest TV transmitter and antenna.
Following the 1956 uprising he and his wife came to England. He joined the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Aerial Group in 1958 winning, soon after, a commendation from the BBC for innovation in TV transmitting systems.
In 1968 he joined the Marconi Research Laboratories Microwave Engineering Group working in advanced microwave and millimetre wave systems including the proposed H01 circular waveguide trunk UK communications network, also in high performance high power transmitter combiners for Satellite Earth Stations.
He then moved into New Projects in the Radar Research Laboratory where his work eventually led him to HF Over the Horizon Radars, for which he provided basic designs for land and ship-based Surface Wave prototypes during the Falkland Islands conflict. Building on this, (and having moved to Marconi Radar Systems in 1983), came his winning design of Skywave OTHR for the Australian JORN surveillance system, now part of the US anti-ballistic missile defence shield.
In 1994, John received a richly deserved GEC Nelson Gold Medal, awarded in recognition of his exceptional innovation and outstanding technology contribution to the company. Although he retired formally in 1995, he worked as an HF Radar Consultant in AMS and BAE Systems until 2002, contributing to the significantly advanced design of a new coastal surveillance radar.
Life is the childhood of our immortality. Goethe