Maurice Ward

Maurice Ward was a British inventor best known for his invention of Starlite, a thermal shielding material. He was a former hairdresser from Hartlepool, County Durham, England. Ward believed he should not sell his material directly or allow unsupervised research due to the potential for reverse engineering, and he maintained that he should keep 51% ownership of the formula for Starlite because he valued the material to be worth billions; this is believed to have stunted its commercial success. The formulation for Starlite, a technology which might have revolutionised the world of aerospace and materials science, may have been lost with his death, although, he hinted during a radio talk show interview that his family might hold information relating to the invention.

He was a tinkerer and liked to invent things in his spare time. This hobby led to him purchasing an extruder from ICI during the early 1980s. during which 55 people aboard the plane died in 40 seconds due to toxic smoke inhalation. He invented the material after ICI requested a material for Citroën bonnets. The material that Ward extruded was a failure, and it was granulated and forgotten about until the aforementioned air crash, at which point Ward became inspired. "It interested me because it was an air disaster on the ground, and because it was the smoke and toxicity that killed people, not the fire. Fifty-five people died in 40 seconds. We thought we'd like to find something that doesn't burn very much, that would be useful," Ward mentioned in an interview. Ward repeated the demonstration several times on YouTube.

Rafael Silva, CEO of Thermashield, LLC, reported that he became friends with Ward in 2008. Silva said that, after sharing thoughts and ideas for two years, they agreed to start a business relationship; but shortly before Ward could share his secrets, he died. Two years later, Ward's family contacted Silva and agreed to sell all the rights to Starlite. Thermashield, LLC was formed in 2013 to acquire Starlite's formulations, production processes, original samples, the inventor's notes and other materials.

Ward died in May 2011 at the age of 78.