DR John C Taylor OBE has been awarded a prestigious Fellowship of the Royal Engineering Academy for his outstanding contributions to the advancement of British engineering, innovation and commerce.
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, presented the Fellowship at Draper's Hall in London at the end of last year.
It marked another milestone in a memorable year for Dr Taylor, of Santon, who was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2011 New Year Honours by The Queen for services to business and horology.
The Fellowship represents the zenith of an illustrious career for the 'retired' inventor and will secure his place among the most esteemed figures in modern British engineering history, including Sir James Dyson, Sir Alan Muir Wood, who was instrumental in the development of the Channel Tunnel and Francis Thomas Bacon, inventor of the first practical hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell.
Dr Taylor said: "I feel honoured to have been recognised in this way by such a venerable institution and proud to be numbered amongst such highly regarded peers."
Educated at King William’s College - and then at Corpus Christi College in the University of Cambridge where he read Natural Sciences - Dr Taylor began his career as a graduate trainee at his father, Eric Taylor's company, Otter Controls Ltd in Buxton, Derbyshire.
There Dr Taylor quickly demonstrated his remarkable gift for innovation and invention, focusing his talents on the development of thermostat technologies where he furthered the invention of bi-metallic controls.
Dr Taylor moved to the Island in 1977 to join Castletown Thermostats Ltd, leading them to independence as a Manx company and changing their name to Strix Ltd.
The company quickly became a world-leading manufacturer of kettle controls with other factories established in Port Erin, Ramsey and Ronaldsway employing thousands of workers over the years.
Strix kettle controls are now estimated to be used more than a billion times each day and by 20 per cent of the world's population.
Hundreds of patents were also filed for Strix over the coming decades.
Dr Taylor, an entrepreneur, philanthropist, pilot, mountaineer, Yachtmaster and photographer, also has a passion for horology - he invented, designed and built the Chronophage which sits outside Corpus Christi's Taylor Library in Cambridge.
The library is named after him and the Chronophage, a work of art, was unveiled by Professor Stephen Hawking in 2008.
Dr John C Taylor (centre) receiving his Fellowship from HRH Prince Philip and Sir John Parker, President of the Royal Engineering Academy
Also see: A moment in time with Dr John C Taylor
