Roke Manor Research
1956 Founded as Plessey Research Roke Manor by the Plessey Co. The first managing director was Harold J. Finden, an electrical engineer. Initially staffed by 28 engineers, the company undertook research into military communications systems.
Specialised in systems research and software
1986 Plessey Research Roke Manor Ltd was incorporated to hold the entreprise.
1990 Taken over by the joint venture GEC-Siemens. Renamed Roke Manor Research Ltd.
1991 Became wholly owned by Siemens (as a subsidiary of Siemens Plessey Defence Systems Ltd) when GEC sold their 50% shareholding to Siemens Plessey Electronic Systems.
1999 Engineers Paul Hawkins and David Sherry submitted 2 patent applications " Ball tracking and trajectory prediction" and "Video Processor systems for ball tracking in ball games".
2000 The 2 engineers submitted a United Kingdom patent application for the technology that later became known as Hawk-Eye; this patent application was subsequently withdrawn.
2002 All of the technology and intellectual property concerned with Hawk-Eye was spun off into a separate company, Hawk Innovations Ltd, subsequently Hawk-Eye Innovations Ltd, based in Winchester, Hampshire. This was initially established as a joint venture between Roke Manor Research and Sunset + Vine. At the time, Sunset + Vine produced the Channel 4 television cricket coverage where the Hawk-Eye system was first used.
2010 Roke Manor Research was acquired by the Chemring Group