He worked for over 40 years in theoretical analysis and design techniques applied to the solution of electromagnetic problems covering many different antenna types for radar, electronic warfare and communication systems.
[2] Born in Epsom, Surrey, Hockham received a BSc (Eng) degree from the Regent Street Polytechnic in 1961, and a PhD in 1969 from the Queen Mary University of London.
He worked for over 40 years in theoretical analysis and design techniques applied to the solution of electromagnetic problems covering many different antenna types for radar, electronic warfare and communication systems.
He proposed and published, together with a colleague Professor K. C. Kao, in 1966 the original paper on the application of the cladded glass fibre as the transmission medium – "Dielectric-fibre surface waveguides for optical frequencies"[2] – for which he received the Rank Prize in Opto-Electronics in 1978.
He attended the local Albany Boys' Secondary School and later Regent Street Polytechnic where he obtained a BSc in electrical engineering.
Cyril Connolly may well have deemed the pram in the hall the enemy of creativity but Hockham co-authored the paper that started it all in 1966.
Charles Kao's part of the joint project was to investigate the losses in the glass material to determine if this could be reduced.