Eric William Leaver

​Eric William Leaver, inventor, electronics engineer (born 11 August 1915 in Langham, England; died 12 February 2004 in London, Ontario). Leaver came to Saskatchewan as a child and after graduation from high school established himself in the 1930s as an inventor of automatic landing systems for aircraft. At the end of the Second World War he formed Electronic Associates Ltd with colleagues from Research Enterprises Ltd, the government's radar factory, and set out to develop robotic machine tools. Leaver's AMCRO system (Automatic Machine Control by Recorded Operation) was patented in 1947 and, for lack of risk capital in Canada, was developed by American licensees. The AMCRO system was resisted by manufacturers of conventional machine tools and never fully developed.

Electronic Associates diversified to produce electronic instruments, such as portable Geiger counters for uranium prospectors, radar altimeters for accurate aerial surveys, and automatic process controls for industry, notably mines and paper mills. The firm was selling more than $15-million worth of high technology products a year when Leaver lost personal control in 1974 and became an independent consultant. Renamed Sentrol Systems, the firm was acquired in 1981 by the Canada Development Corporation. Sentrol and a US subsidiary, now sold off, continue to be successful.