Ricardo plc

Infobox Company
company_name = Ricardo plc

company_type = Public (lse|RCDO)
foundation = 1927 (as Ricardo Consulting Engineers Ltd.)
location = flagicon|UK Shoreham-by-Sea, England, UK
key_people = Marcus Beresford CBE (Chairman)
Dave Shemmans (CEO)
industry = Automotive & Defence
revenue = profit £171.5 million (2007)
operating_income = profit £12.2 million (2007)
num_employees = 1,646 (2007)
parent =
subsid =
homepage = [http://www.ricardo.com www.ricardo.com]
footnotes =

Ricardo plc is a publicly listed company named after its founder Sir Harry Ricardo. The company is particularly involved with the design and development of internal combustion engines, transmissions, and vehicles.

Company

The company was one of several founded by Sir Harry Ricardo; it was incorporated on 30 June 1927 at Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, England.

Ricardo has technical centres in the following locations:
* Shoreham-by-Sea, UK (head office) [http://www.ricardo.com/general/contacts.aspx?page=shorehamtechnicalcentre(uk)]
* Royal Leamington Spa, UK
* Cambridge, UK
* Chicago, USA
* Detroit, USA
* Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany
* Prague, Czech Republicwith a further office in:
* Tokyo, Japan

Notable designs

* the "Comet" series of diesel engines. One of the earliest types of indirect injection system, the Comet's 'swirl' chambers made high-speed diesel engines practical. First used in AEC London Buses, and the 1935 Citroen Rosalie passenger car, its pre-combustion system is still used in today's diesel engines and has been improved over the decades
* gas turbine "Barostat" fuel supply systems for jet engines, in conjunction with Sir Frank Whittle
* the draft sensing three point linkage used by tractors. Ricardo's innovation was to automate it so that it is only operational when moving
* investigations into the Stirling engine for fuel-efficiency - commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy in 1978, it has scope for use in hybrid engines
* the Voyager's Teledyne Continental aircraft engine, modified to fly around the world non-stop without refuelling
* direct fuel-injection systems for aircraft and automobile engines
* transmissions and engines for motor sport and speed records, notably the consistently-successful Audi 24 Hours of Le Mans team, the JCB Dieselmax diesel land speed record holder, and the DSG-type gearbox of the Bugatti Veyron.

References

External links

* [http://www.ricardo.com Ricardo plc]