Sir James Martin, born in Crossgar, County Down in 1893, was an Irish engineer who pioneered the development of the ejection seat in 1945. He was always curious about how things worked and loved making things. He worked and studied so hard that by his teenage years he was an accomplished engineer.

He founded the Martin-Baker Aircraft Company with Captain Valentine Baker in 1934 and today, the company is still owned by the Martin family. The company is the world’s leading producer of aircraft ejection seats and, to date, Martin-Baker ejection seats have saved over 7645 lives worldwide.