Peter Clarricoats made fundamental contributions as a microwave engineer in the
fields of applied electromagnetics for microwave and optical waveguides, and
microwave antenna feeds. Peter was also a pioneer of optical fibres, and
established the theory of electromagnetic propagation on dielectric and ferrite
structures. In the course of this, he discovered that such structures can, under
some conditions, support ‘backward waves’ and that guides can
propagate complex modes. Over 40 years of his academic career, Peter Clarricoats
had numerous notable achievements, including pioneering designs for shaped
reflectors, reconfigurable reflectors and especially corrugated horns for
microwave antennas. The latter are now universally used in satellite ground
stations and in spacecraft. He published what became standard reference texts on
corrugated horns for microwave antennas, microwave horns and feeds.
He served as vice-president of both the Institution of Engineering and Technology
and the International Union of Radio Science, and from 1998 to 2000 was chairman
of the Defence Scientific Advisory Council. He was appointed a CBE in 1996. He
is the recipient of the 2001 Distinguished Achievement Award of the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers Antennas and Propagation Society, and in
2015 he received the Sir Frank Whittle Gold Medal from the Royal Academy of
Engineering.