About
Hello. I’m Jakob Whitfield; Thrust Vector is where I blog about my research and other matters relating to the history of science and technology. I completed my PhD at the University of Manchester’s Centre for the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine (CHSTM) in 2012; my PhD looked at the Manchester engineering company Metropolitan-Vickers (Metrovick), and their gas turbine development programmes between c. 1935 and 1960. The project was jointly funded by the ESRC and the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, who hold the Metrovick archives.
Before starting the PhD, I did an MSc in Research Methods in the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine, also at CHSTM; my masters thesis was on the RAE Farnborough’s engine department in the interwar years.
I now live in Cambridge, where I enjoy reading (both history and fiction), cooking, and choral singing.
Thrust Vector 
May 29, 2013 at 12:25 pm
Jakob,
I have read your thesis and it is in my opinion worthy of publication. No one has been brave enough to address the MV Gas Turbine development story due to the complexity of unravelling the archive material. I found myself reading the thesis as I would a book. I have spoken with Nick who has a couple of ideas for a publisher if copyright allows.
I would wish to see a high quality publication and I can personally supply you with high quality photography.
As an ‘MV’ employee who worked in the research divison which evolved from the early Gas Turbine Division many thanks for producing such a fascinating read.
Regards
Terry
May 31, 2013 at 9:53 pm
Many thanks for your kind words, Terry. It’s been a while since I spoke to Nick – my new arrivals have been keeping me busy! – but I’ll have to have a chat with him about this.
January 26, 2014 at 10:40 am
I concur with the demand for publication of Jakob’s thesis; the 200 page PDF on the net is helpful, though of limited use in the moment without a full index of names and subjects, or the PDF must be made searchable. I live in Switzerland and published recently ‘Gas Turbine Powerhouse’, a history of the BBC-ABB-Alstom power generation gas turbines. As Jakob indicates, BBC had also a hidden role in early turbojet developments 1935-1955, the subject of a planned follow-on publication.
Regards, Dietrich ECKARDT, eckardt@bluewin.ch