THE chairman of a North-East company has been presented with an award for engineering excellence.

Professor David Rhodes, executive chairman of Filtronic, in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, has received the Royal Academy of Engineering's highest award, the Prince Philip medal.

The accolade is awarded in recognition of Prof Rhodes's exceptional contribution to engineering.

Prof Rhodes founded Filtronic more than 20 years ago, which along with nine subsidiary companies, has annual sales of £250m. The firm produces mostly communications and defence electronic equipment and has 3,000 employees in 17 facilities in four continents.