The IET Achievement Awards recognise individuals who have made an exceptional contribution to the advancement of science, engineering and technology in any sector, either through research and development in their respective technical field or through their leadership of an enterprise.
This year’s winner of the Crompton Medal for Energy is Professor Graham Trevor Reed from Optoelectronics Research Centre, University of Southampton.
Professor Reed is responsible for initiating the field of Silicon Photonics within the UK, and for pioneering research over a 25 year period. Reed’s student Dr Andrew Rickman, founded Bookham Technology Plc (now Oclaro), and worked on Reed’s ideas of establishing a Silicon guided wave technology, subsequently adopted as the core business of Bookham, the first Silicon Photonics company in the world. In particular, Reed pioneered modulator development in silicon photonics, with seminal papers in 1994, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2011, and 2012, demonstrating a series of world firsts in silicon modulator performance, including the first high performance 40Gb/s and 50Gb/s devices.
Nigel Fine, chief executive of the IET said: “The Institution of Engineering and Technology Achievement Awards recognise individuals who have made a truly outstanding contribution to engineering, from talented young professionals through to engineers at the pinnacle of their careers. The IET is passionate about promoting engineering excellence and the Achievement Awards showcase some of the world’s best engineering talent. The winners should be extremely proud of their achievements.”
The winners, who were selected from a line-up of leading engineers by a panel of expert judges, will now be invited to collect their awards at a prestigious awards ceremony on 20 November.