EuroWire March 2018

Corporate News

World-leading expertise rewarded

reach thousands of school-age students each year. Professor Sir David Payne, director of the Optoelectronics Research Centre, said: “Being honoured with this prestigious award is recognition of just how important photonics is to the UK and the extensive role the University of Southampton has played in leading photonics research since the 1960s.” Professor Sir Christopher Snowden, president and vice-chancellor of the university, added: “I am delighted that the University of Southampton has been awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for its highly regarded work in photonics. This is a really exciting opportunity for the University to celebrate an important award and recognise the contributions made by our Optoelectronics Research Centre over many years.” Sir David is now keen for his colleagues to continue pushing back the boundaries of research and commercial application using materials not conceived when the ORC was first founded.

mobile telephone networks and help make life-saving devices that transform daily lives. As well as its extensive links with companies and universities around the world, the centre – which leads a new national manufacturing hub for the UK – has been responsible for developing a major research and commercial nucleus within Southampton and the surrounding area, with at least ten companies ‘spinning out’ to provide employment and inward investment to the region from its work. The centre’s global reach includes its partnership with Nanyang Technological University, which has led to the establishment of the Photonics Institute, making Singapore a new powerhouse in photonics. The ORC is also renowned for its wide range of outreach activities with schools and colleges, delivering activities designed to encourage more students to study physics and support the teaching of photonics in schools whilst engaging them in research and the wider promotion of careers within physics and engineering. Activities including the Photonics Explorer workshop and the Light Express Roadshow

THE Southampton’s expertise in photonics and fibre optic technology has been awarded a prestigious Queen’s Anniversary Prize for higher and further education. The Queen’s Anniversary Prizes are the UK’s most prestigious form of recognition for a UK academic or vocational institution, with approval directly from The Queen and Parliament. A delegation from the University travelled to Buckingham Palace in February to formally receive the prize. This year’s Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Southampton recognises the many decades of inspired innovation by the University’s Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC), a community of over 200 staff and postgraduate students working on cutting-edge research in photonics – the science and technology of light – to provide solutions for real-life problems. The work of the ORC – the largest and longest established centre of its kind in the UK – has led to breakthroughs in optical fibres, laser manufacturing, next generation computing and new optical materials that power the Internet, feed University of

University of Southampton – UK Website : www.southampton.ac.uk

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March 2018