Prof Charles Curry, Chairman of Chronos Technology a leader of resilient sync and timing solutions, has been awarded the International Timing & Sync Forum (ITSF) 2021 TimeLord award at a ceremony in Brighton earlier this month.
The TimeLord award is given for lifetime achievement for the contribution to the timing and synchronisation community. Charles founded the ITSF community and celebrates as the winner on the 20th anniversary of the event, the largest time and synchronisation conference and exhibition in the world showcasing solutions for 4/5G, Finance, Broadcast, Automotive, Smart Grids, IoT, Distributed Data Centres, Transport and Defence.
Charles, who graduated in Electronics from Liverpool University in 1973, started his career at GEC Hirst Research Centre working on silicon MOS boundary research, progressing to Racal Instruments where he was responsible for sales of test equipment including specialist frequency and time products such as Loran C timing receivers and Caesium and Rubidium atomic frequency standards. Later as MD of GSE (Geophysical & Scientific Equipment) Rentals, Charles supplied some of the first civil GPS and laptop PC deployments into the North Sea offshore oil exploration industry during the early 1980s.
He founded Chronos Technology Ltd in 1986, a leading global system integrator, service solutions provider, value add reseller and manufacturer of synchronisation, timing, GNSS and GPS jamming detection products. Based in the UK, Chronos has supplied and installed many thousands of GPS & timing systems worldwide for mobile and fixed-line telecom operators, and the Chronos Synchronisation MasterClass has been delivered to more than 1500 delegates across the globe.
Charles founded the International Timing & Sync Forum (ITSF) in 2001 and is past chairman of the Steering Group. He is also a past member of the Workshop on Synchronization in the USA Telecommunications Systems (WSTS) Steering Group, and the Industry Advisory Boards for the Universities of Liverpool and Bath, Electrical and Electronics Faculties.
In 2012 Charles was awarded Honorary Professorships from both the University of Bath, Faculty of Engineering & Design, Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering and the University of Liverpool, Department of Electrical Engineering & Electronics.
Charles was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Institute of Navigation in 2016 by its former Patron HRH The Duke of Edinburgh in recognition of his significant and continuing contribution to the practical aspects of time measurement and dissemination, including research into GNSS vulnerabilities and the use of eLoran for precise time.
In 2018 Chronos was awarded the RIN’s Duke of Edinburgh Navigation Award for Outstanding Technical Achievement in ‘Recognition of technical excellence and authority in satellite navigation and timing vulnerabilities and mitigations’.
After 35 years running Chronos, in 2021 Charles and Angie Curry sold a controlling share of Chronos to staff via the Chronos Technology Employee Ownership Trust Ltd. Chronos Technology Ltd continues to operate as normal and Charles continues his enthusiasm for innovative sync and timing technology including eLoran, GNSS and the detection of GPS jamming activity.
