Key People
Members of the Senior Management team at Sherborne Sensors have been working together in key companies throughout their careers. Their knowledge and skill base in the sector, and the synergy of the team, is, we believe, unrivalled.
MICHAEL BAKER CEng FlMechE Eur Ing – President
Mike is a well-known and respected member of the engineering community at the highest levels in the UK and widely acknowledged to be an authority in the sensors industry. His knowledge and experience within the field spans more than 35 years.
Mike’s career began with an apprenticeship at the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough, and a further 4 years with them as mechanical design engineer. Moving out into industry Mike quickly entered sensor design and development and by 1973 was Chief Engineer with Kulite Sensors, working in the USA prior to setting up their manufacturing operations in the UK.
Mike then founded and built his own transducer business, Maywood Instruments, which traded successfully for over 20 years. Following the sale of the business Mike spent a period in specialist instrumentation and sensor consultancy, in the UK, USA and Sweden before becoming General Manager of Schaevitz Sensors, part of Measurement Specialties (UK). Mike led a management buyout team to form Sherborne Sensors in July 2002.
Mike’s main interests these days are flying, reading, music and history, but not all at the same time!
ROBIN BUTLER BSc(Hons) – Sales & Marketing Director
A mechanical engineering graduate from the University of Aston, Robin spent his early career as a product engineering designer in the mechanical handling industry. From there he joined LRE Aerospace, manufacturers of military control panels, switches and electronic devices where he went on to head up the Research, Development and Prototyping facility. In the early 90’s Robin moved to a rival business where he had overall responsibility for sales, production and purchasing as well as all technical aspects of the business. This brought him in close contact with the major defense contract companies around the world.
In 1996 Robin moved to Schaevitz Sensors, and was responsible for the applications engineering for their pressure transducers and inertial products. This involved working closely with military and industrial customers to ensure the correct product specification, selection and where appropriate, the development of customized solutions. This involved the project management of major contracts.
In 2000 Measurement Specialties Inc. purchased Schaevitz Sensors where Robin had been appointed Product Line Manager responsible for the sales strategy, product development and the profitability of the inertial product line. It was through this acquisition that Robin met Mike who had joined MSI in 2000. ‘The rest is history’, as they say!
ANGELA EELES – Operations Director
Following her early working years in foil strain gauge test and assembly, Angela joined Mike Baker’s earlier business, Maywood Instruments in 1982, manufacturing force and pressure transducers. After just 8 years she was heading up a team of 25 as Production Manager, responsible for the manufacture, test and calibration of all products, company-wide. She successfully steered the company to ISO9000 accreditation.
Angela joined Mike at Measurement Specialties (UK) in 2001 and brings nearly 30 years’ in-depth experience in inertial sensors and strain gauge transducers to Sherborne Sensors.
JEREMY KNIGHT – Design Manager
From his Ministry of Defense apprenticeship with AWE Aldermaston, Jerry qualified as instrument maker and CAD design draughtsman, before moving to spend 11 years with a leading manufacturer of photometry systems, Bentham Instruments.
In 1999 Mike recruited him to head up the design team with Thames-Side Maywood (successor to Mike’s then company, Maywood Instruments). Mike subsequently brought Jerry into the design team at Measurement Specialties in 2001, where as Senior Design and Applications engineer, Jerry carried out the design of force, pressure and inertial transducers, which he continues to do today at Sherborne Sensors.
STEVEN MACLEAN BEng (Hons) MIET – Engineering and QA Manager
Steve is an Electrical Engineer with 13 years of experience working in the field of Strain Gauge Force Transducers and Load Cells. Steve started his career as a Development Engineer at the load cell manufacturer Veccer, subsequently moving on to the role of Senior Development Engineer at Thames Side – Maywood when Veccer was absorbed into that company, where he was responsible for a major contract for strain gauge crash walls for the automotive industry and precision weighing projects for nuclear applications. He was also the Deputy Head of the UKAS calibration laboratory and achieved many product line approvals against OIML R60. Steve has written many technical papers on the application of load cells.
Steve is married with a young family and enjoys participating in all sports, in particular swimming, golf and racket sports.
Dr WEIDONG GONG PhD, MSc, BEng – Senior Electronics Engineer
Weidong gained his BEng in Automation and Instrument Engineering from Chongqing University, China, and then moved to the UK where he gained his MSc with distinction in Microelectronics System Design from the University of Southampton, subsequently gaining his PhD in 2008. Weidong brings a wealth of experience to the company – from working within industry in China together with great technical and academic expertise.