Howard Stone — 150 year interview

Howard Stone, then president of the Whitworth Society, embarked on his Whitworth Scholarship journey in 1999. He was at an industry event in London when he met a man named Alan Ross, who had just received his Whitworth medal. The pair spoke for 10 or 15 minutes. Six years later, Stone secured some work in Albuquerque, New Mexico. "I emailed him out of the blue, said: I'm coming over, are you free to meet me? Every Saturday we all went out for breakfast on old Route 66."

Stone says the scholarship also opened a door for him to a nine-month project in Dubai. As someone who came across the programme by spotting a poster on a college wall, he could never have imagined the value it would bring to his life.

Like Sir Joseph Whitworth, Stone left school early to become an apprentice. Later, he studied his way through a mechanical engineering degree, a doctorate and an MBA. Now a business owner and consultant, he admires the ability Whitworth had to make tough decisions and find practical solutions to problems.

Another story Stone enjoys telling is how Whitworth managed to plot the trajectory of a rifle bullet back in the 19th century. "Being a Victorian, he built a shooting range in his back garden, put a piece of paper every 10 yards, fired the gun and then put the pieces of paper together again to measure the hole and how the trajectory of the bullet went."

"I've been fortunate to get scholarships from multiple places because I've gone out and found them, not because they came to me. You are only limited by your own imagination."