Dundee inventor John Cruickshank has died aged 84.
Mr Cruickshank was celebrated for helping to improve medical care, influencing Nasa and making vital contributions to the gas and oil industry.
The first of his inventions was the drip alarm which alerts nurses when saline or blood is running low.
In the 1960s he was part of the development team that created a 3D scanning system and his work influenced the design of high-speed scanners used by Nasa and the US military.
Mr Cruickshank was named an ”unsung hero” by readers of the Sunday Mail as part of the newspaper’s Great Scot awards in 2007.
Before becoming known for his innovative projects, he trained as a typewriter mechanic after leaving school in Dundee.
When the Second World War broke out he joined the Royal Air Force Bomber Command and was posted to RAF Binbrook in Lincolnshire to work on Avro Lancasters.
This base was home to a number of distinguished RAF Lancaster bomber squadrons XI, 12, 101 and the 617 Squadron, known as the Dambusters.
During his time in the RAF Mr Cruickshank also served at other bases, including RAF Shalufah in Egypt, and was a proud member of the RAF Bomber Command Association.
On leaving the armed forces he returned to Dundee to work at NCR. He also held senior management roles with Seafield Tool and Gauge, Ravensdown Metals Group and Hanlor.
In Perth he established Triadynamics and later set up his own consultancy from his home in Inchture which allowed him to continue with his inventions.
Over several decades Mr Cruickshank successfully registered numerous global patents of his innovations.
These included the light beam profile machine, which was found to be invaluable in a number of diverse areas, such as plastic surgery, sculpture and down-hole inspection tooling in the oil and gas industries.
An active contributing member of Tayside Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr Cruickshank was often chosen to represent the UK on trade missions to Italy, Norway and the United States.
Son-in-law Ronnie Taylor said: ”To those who were fortunate to know John, they found that he had a great sense of humour.
”He was always available to listen to people’s problems and was known for coming up with helpful and constructive solutions or advice, which were mostly gleaned from his own experiences.”
Mr Cruickshank is survived by his wife Isobel, daughter Anne, son John, grandchildren Michael and Laura and his brother Bill.