“ Memories of Fran
I think it must be just over 14 years ago that we had a short term vacancy for a storeman-packer. This was the first time I met Fran as a temporary contractor but it became very quickly apparent that he had skills and an attitude to problem solving that extended far beyond the tasks we were asking him to undertake. We were privileged to employ him as a production technician exactly fourteen years ago today and of course he rapidly grew into the role together with becoming an immensely useful 'prototyper'. I knew he had seen service as a communications expert in challenging times, so knew he would be aware of the truth observed by von Clausewitz in 19th Century that “no plan survives first contact with the enemy”. The same thought applies equally to technology in the field where in the face of total uncertainty a ‘make do and mend’ and ‘can-do’ attitude with lateral thinking and wit quickly become very essential and highly valued personal skills.
In around 2010, I remember that Nick Bolton gave me a very tricky optics problem to try and overcome a conundrum with the new OMG Life Autographer where we wanted to place a very wide angle fish-eye lens behind a manual, brightly coloured shutter within a rotating knob. The idea was to indicate to others sensitive about their privacy if the product was capturing images or not and at the same time to have the capability to view as much of a scene as technically possible. The problem was that the presence of the knob would seriously degrade the image around the edges as it was always potentially obscuring the lens. Many drawings, sketches and math were calculated to try and solve the problem with eventually a theoretical solution proposed but I needed to prove it. Of course I went to Fran to create a model of my idea and the next day he returned with a most beautiful piece of machined plastic that looked a bit like a Greek or Roman amphitheatre. We put it in front of the lens and the image was perfect! His clever physical design was eventually implemented in the product.
In a company filled to the rafters with very, very clever and talented people, Fran was one of the cleverest and most talented persons I have ever met. He will be greatly missed by me and all of his many friends and colleagues, our solace is that his was a life well spent.
My thoughts are with Yvonne, Jay and the family. ”