AN engineer dubbed the "prophet of the integrated circuit" or silicon chip has died in Malvern, aged 93.

Geoffrey Dummer MBE passed away on Monday at Perrins House, Moorlands Road, where he had lived for two and a half years, following a stroke.

Born in Hull on February 25, 1909, he entered the world of Government radar research in 1939, when he joined the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE). He came to Malvern when TRE moved from Swanage in 1942.

Mr Dummer built the first Plan Position Indicator, the familiar circular radar screen, and used one to observe the first-ever ground-controlled aircraft interception.

He also started the Synthetic Trainer Design Group, which build simulators at Malvern College, giving aircrew realistic radar experience without the expense of flight time.

Dr Albert Rowe, TRE's war-time director, said: "They were a vital factor in the RAF's training programme and they certainly saved more money than was spent on the whole of TRE throughout the war."

Mr Dummer was awarded the MBE in December 1945. He also received the United States Medal of Freedom.

After the war, he continued his research and in 1952 proposed the idea of the integrated circuit. This was seven years before it was patented, and went on to shape the modern world as a key component in the electronic revolution.

Interviewed in 1984, he said: "I shook the industry to the bone when I lectured on the chip. I was trying to make them realise how important its invention would be for the future of microelectronics and the national economy."

Vishal Nayar, product manager of QinetiQ's sensor and electronics division, said: "The kind of work that Geoffrey Dummer was doing in the 1950s and 60s, his vision has gone on to inform much of what we do now."

Mr Dummer retired from RRE on 1966 and became a full-time consultant and author, writing hundreds of papers and dozens of books. He continued to work up until his illness.

In 1933, Mr Dummer married Dorothy. Their only son Stephen, a Malvern College old boy and Merchant Navy officer, died in Mombasa in 1992, aged 37. Dorothy also died in 1992 and Mr Dummer subsequently remarried June, who survives him.

Mrs Dummer said: "One of Geoffrey's colleagues told me he was very easy to work with and enjoyed a challenge."

Mr Dummer's funeral service is on Thursday, September 19, at 2pm, at Holy Trinity Church Link Top, followed by interment at Malvern Cemetery.