ROKE Manor research director Paul Hawkins should be bowled over by his new role.

He has just taken over as director of the innovations business unit at one of the world's most innovative engineering technology centres.

Paul, 26, joined the company in 1999 as a mobile internet research planner and moved to the innovations business unit last summer to develop his invention, Hawk-Eye which stems from his love of cricket and which aims to make Britain's most complex game easier to understand.

He has applied his experience of the game to the technology which can track a cricket ball from the bowler's hand to the batsman and also predict the future flight of the ball.

Hawk-Eye is due to make its debut during Channel 4's 2001 cricket season to help cricket commentators provide in-depth visual and statistical information to television viewers.

But it could also be applied to other sports, like football, in the future.

Paul said: "Hawk-Eye is one example of the world-leading systems produced by Roke Manor Research.

The company's technology can be incorporated into many different areas of day-to-day life and my new role will involve recognising these opportunities and exploiting them in the market-place.''

He holds a PhD in computer science from Durham University.