QuantIC researchers recognised in IEEE Photonics Society Awards.

Professor Miles Padgett, University of Glasgow, received the Quantum Electronics Award for his pioneering research on the fundamentals and applications of optical angular momentum.

Professor Martin Dawson, University of Stathclyde, was presented with the Distinguished Service award for sustained leadership in society governance, with special distinction in conference organization and strategy.

The distinguished IEEE Photonics Society Awards Program recognises the contribution of its members in advancing their fields of interest for the benefit of society.  Awards have been established to recognise outstanding achievements especially for those accomplishments which enhance the quality of life for all people throughout the world. A full list of recipients can be found here.

Both Miles and Martin lead research groups for QuantIC, the UK’s hub for research, development and innovation in quantum enhanced imaging. The QuantIC Hub brings together eight universities with more than 40 industry partners to pioneer a family of multidimensional cameras operating across a range of wavelengths, time-scales and length-scales.

Prof. Padgett’s research team covers all things optical, from the basic ways in which light behaves as it pushes and twists the world around us, to the application of new optical techniques in imaging and sensing. They are currently using the classical and quantum properties of light to explore the laws of quantum physics in accelerating frames, microscopes that see through noise, shaped light that overcomes diffraction-limited resolution and endoscopes the width of a human hair.

On receiving his award Miles said

“I am flattered to win the 2021 IEEE Quantum Electronics Award but research isn’t a solo sport and this award recognises my whole team.  Thank you to my research group Glasgow Optics and my professional colleagues at the University of Glasgow for all their support.”

Martin Dawson is Professor and Director of Research at the University of Strathclyde’s Institute of Photonics (IoP) in Glasgow UK, which he helped establish 25 years ago.  He is also the Head and Scientific Director of the Fraunhofer Center for Applied Photonics, the UK’s first Fraunhofer centre which is co-located with the IoP.  Together, these two organizations emply over 100 staff and PhD/EngD students and have funded R&D collaborations with over 150 companies.

Martin said “I was truly thrilled and honoured to be recognised in this way by the IEEE Photonics Society, of which I have been an active member for 36 years. It has been a pleasure to serve the Society in a variety of roles from local chapter level through to international level. I continue this currently by chairing the Steering Committee for the IEEE Photonics Conference and hope to continue to serve in the future in any way I can”

Both awards will be formally presented at the IEEE Photonics Conference which runs from 18-22 October 2021.

First published: 8 June 2021

<< News and Events