An ingenious invention

Did you know that Percy Shaw invented reflective cats eye studs for our roads in 1934?

He credits his invention from a foggy treacherous night on the roads in Yorkshire when his headlights were reflected back at him enabling him to avoid dropping off the steep A647.

Not only did the UK embrace these reflective road studs the business was also shipping them out across the World.

A patent further was the rainwater reservoir which made these studs self-washing for the glass eyes as the cars drove over them.

What this inventor shows is observation to his surroundings and the ability to generate a solution to improve safety.

It’s often the small things that are done that create a huge impact.

Percy probably did not realise how his cat’s eyes would be embraced.

But he raised to the challenge of the Second World War blackout meaning his product totally took off and his production site made one million road studs.

Innovation using things that are around us, there was a reflective lens patent from 1927, and making them into a usable practical product is engineering excellence.