Larry Clarke :
Chairman

Larry Clarke is one of Canada’s foremost pioneers in the North American space program. Larry and his team at Spar Aerospace conceived and developed Canada’s prestigious “space manipulator arm” contribution to the American space shuttle missions, used for the past 25 years.

Having worked for a number of years in the aviation market place with deHavilland Aircraft of Canada, Larry was familiar with the machinery and the players that would ultimately be a part in the high profile space race. Larry founded Spar Aerospace in 1967 out of the assets of the Special Products and Applied Research division of deHavilland. Spar initially developed product and service capabilities for the aircraft and space industries, gaining recognition for the “telescoping” antennae used on the early Anik satellites. In the 1970s, Spar developed the concept of the space shuttle manipulator arm based on the fundamental capabilities of Spar, the Canadian Government’s desire to play a role in the American space initiatives and the need for material handling in space. Today, the “Canadarm” is used on almost every shuttle mission, and it plays a key role in the assembly of the space station.

Larry began his career as an electronics technician in the Canadian Navy during World War II and in 1949, graduated in law. He worked with the procurement department of the Canadian Government during the Korean war and subsequently became an executive with the deHavilland Company of Canada. He left deHavilland to found Spar Aerospace

During Mr. Clarke’s tenure at Spar as Chief Executive, the company grew its revenue base from $5 million per annum to almost $500 million per annum in the late 1980s. Through its various divisions, Spar operated in the aircraft repair market, the helicopter gear market, the telecommunications market, the space exploration market and miscellaneous other markets. Spar partnered with some of the best-known companies in North America including Hughes, General Electric, Honeywell, McDonald Douglas, Hewlett Packard and many others.

Since retiring from Spar in 1989, Larry has been involved in the strategic guidance and financial support of a number of start-up companies including Dimax Controls, and most recently, IDIMAX. Mr. Clarke holds a degree in law and has honourary degrees (including doctorates) from York University, the University of Montreal, Athabaska University and Ryerson Polytechnic Institute. He was the Chancellor of York University for a number of years and has been member of the Board of the International Space University.

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