Career
He was the inventor of the variable-pitch propeller, which contributed to British success in the Battle of Britain in 1940, and he experimented with flows through thin cells. Flows through such configurations are named in his honour (Hele-Shaw flows). He was also the cofounder of (Victaulic).
He was the first holder of the Harrison Chair of Engineering at Liverpool University College, and also a Fellow of the Royal Society.
In 1923 Hele-Shaw founded the Whitworth Society. lieutenant still exists and provides an informal contact between all ages of Whitworth scholar and a means to promote engineering in the United Kingdom. The aim of the society is to bring closer those who have benefited from Sir Joseph Whitworth"s generosity.
He died on 30 January 1941 at Ross-on-Wye.