The grant proposal was originally written to strengthen the partnership between the ORC and its spin-out company Lumenisity. As Lumenisity was acquired by Microsoft in December 2022, Microsoft will continue their commitment to the grant by match-funding the EPSRC support. Professor Francesco Poletti, Principal Investigator of the grant, co-founder of Lumenisity and Partner Researcher at Microsoft, said: “We are delighted that Microsoft will continue with the grant. Microsoft’s involvement will have a very positive influence on the research project and will significantly increase its impact. While Lumenisity was an SME focusing on the fabrication of cables for data communications based on hollow core fibres (HCFs), Microsoft is also an end-user of this revolutionary technology. This means that research conducted within FASTNET will now have a direct impact on speeding up the introduction of HCF technology into Microsoft’s Azure global network, the company’s platform for cloud-based services and computing.”

Microsoft and the ORC will combine their globally leading expertise to address, amongst other topics, the mass production of HCF. The primary goal of the project is to increase the maturity of HCF technology aimed at the transmission of data with very low latency. This will increase the speed at which information is transmitted by up to 50% and enable the creation of next generation datacentres and optical networks that support ultrafast internet connectivity.

Named after the inventor of the jet engine, the Sir Frank Whittle Medal is awarded to an engineer resident in the UK whose outstanding and sustained achievements have had a profound impact on their field of study. Previous winners include Robert Benaim (2019), Professor Dame Julia Higgins (2020) and Dr Clive Hickman (2021).

Upon learning of his award, Graham said: “I’m delighted and humbled to receive the Sir Frank Whittle Medal. It is an honour to be added to such an eminent list of previous winners.”

He added: “This medal is recognition for a contribution to engineering over a sustained period, and I must say that this is only possible with an excellent team. Therefore, I must pay tribute to members of my Silicon Photonics Group past and present. I have been fortunate to be able to recruit excellent individuals over a period of more than 30 years, many of whom are now world leaders themselves, so I regard this award as being as much for them as for me.”

Graham is a pioneer in the field of Silicon Photonics and he has remained at the forefront of the field for over 30 years. He founded the Silicon Photonics Group in 1989 at the University of Surrey where he later became head of the Department of Electronic Engineering. In April 2012, Graham brought his team to the University of Southampton and, since then, he has contributed to its world-leading reputation, initially serving as Deputy Director and now Director of the ORC. He and his team are particularly well-known for having published the first design of a depletion modulator, now an industry standard, as well as landmark high-speed modulators over the past two decades.

The Prosperity Partnership strengthened the existing bond between the ORC and Rockley Photonics. Andrew Rickman, CEO of Rockley Photonics, was the first-ever PhD student of Professor Graham Reed, Director of the ORC. This shared history laid the foundation for a collaborative journey that began in 2013 when Rockley Photonics was first established. Initially focused on advancing data centre communications, the company sought to harness the ORC’s expertise in modulators and communications.

After securing funding in the inaugural round of the Prosperity Partnership scheme, the primary goal of the project was to elevate the speed and energy efficiency of data centres by revolutionising their architecture, as well as investigating novel sensor applications. Three strategic work packages were identified, each targeting different levels of risk and addressing diverse aspects of the project.

Graham elaborated on the vision of the project, stating: “Internet traffic, traditionally managed through electronic means, is progressively shifting towards optical solutions. Silicon, recognised for its cost-effectiveness and efficiency as an optical material, held the key to enhancing internet speed and reducing power consumption. This partnership demonstrated new understanding of Silicon Photonics modulators and the ways in which data centre communications can be more efficient.”

Nanophotonics is concerned with the science of interactions between light and matter at the sub-micron scale. Over the past few decades, it has fundamentally impacted technologies including TV displays, medical diagnostics and treatments, and sensing. This OPN article explores the emergence of a new field: Picophotonics. Professor Kevin MacDonald, a member of the research group explained: “Picophotonics deals with light at a scale 1000 times smaller than the domain of nanophotonics. It is the science of light at the atomic scale. For context, the typical size of an atom is around two hundred picometres.”

Breakthroughs in understanding that light itself can be structured at picometre scales, that the optical properties of nanostructured materials can be changed by picometre-scale movements of their component parts, and that light can control such movement, have enabled scientists in the group to realize a new state of matter known as a ‘time crystal,’ which was only theoretically proposed a decade ago. Time crystals have structure that oscillates – is periodic – in time, in contrast to familiar solid-state crystals with structure that is periodic in space.

Professor Will Stewart – a Visiting Professor at the ORC – was a driving-force in the organisation of the conference this year. Serving as co-chair on the organizing committee alongside Professor David Richardson, former Deputy Director of the ORC, Will also chaired many of the public sessions, including the opening and closing ceremonies.

Expressing his enthusiasm, Will said: “ECOC, now in its 49^th year, continues to be as exciting and novel as ever with over 900 submitted papers (a record!) and around 6000 people present. It is amazing that new and important work keeps coming in, not least on hollow core fibres from Southampton, but also on quantum and free space communications. I was involved in the very first meeting in London and still find it as fascinating as ever.”

Professor Francesco Poletti, leader of the ORC’s Hollow Core Fibre group, also contributed to the conference’s organization. He acted as the chair of the fibre subcommittee, helped to shape the technical programme of the conference and chaired the scoring of papers.

In a unique collaboration, the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the University of Southampton, renowned as a global leader in photonics, has joined forces with Light Up Trails. As part of their shared vision to raise awareness about photonics among the general public, PhD photonics students from the university will be present at the event to meet visitors and explain the science of light and how it fits into the modern world.

Dr. Pearl John, Public Engagement Leader for the ORC’s Future Photonics Hub, explained: “Photonics is central to our world. It is an enabling technology, from arts and media to manufacturing and engineering, yet we have a skills shortage in that there are not enough physicists and optical engineers coming through even though there are plenty – and some very well-paid – jobs in this field.”

Highlights include the premiere of an exciting new work by The Projection Studio that tells the story of the pine Christmas tree. Another standout installation, Radiant Grove, promises to transport its audience into a realm of vividly coloured laser beams, mirrors, and pulsating rave dance music.

Global impact

The Hub’s semiconductor Silicon Photonics research and development is already feeding into a multimillion-pound research programme – Mid-Infrared Silicon Photonic Sensors for Healthcare and Environmental Monitoring (MISSION) – that is spearheading the creation of new sensors that monitor drugs, speed up cancer detection and measure the impact of climate change.

Sir David Payne, Principal Investigator of the Future Photonics Hub, has said: “as a university flagship research Institute, the ORC strives for excellence in all that we do.  While still at an early stage of his career, Dong Yang Wang shows all the hallmarks of an international superstar. He will be a great asset to us.”

Dr. Dong Yang Wang will be joining the ORC from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). He was selected out of a high number of exceptional applicants. As an Anniversary Fellow, he is expected to apply for substantial research funding and develop an independent research profile, building on his existing track-record of research, innovation and impact.

On learning of his award, Professor Reed said: “I’m delighted to receive this recognition from the SPIE.  I’ve been fortunate to have excellent people in the group both past and present, and I also regard the award as recognition for them.”

Professor Reed is a pioneer in the field of Silicon Photonics worldwide. He founded the Silicon Photonics Group in 1989 at the University of Surrey where he later became head of the Department of Electronic Engineering. In April 2012, Professor Reed brought his team to the University of Southampton and, since then, he has contributed to its world-leading reputation in his role as Deputy Director. He and his team are particularly well-known for having published the first design of a depletion modulator, now an industry standard, as well as landmark high-speed modulators over the past two decades.

Under the theme ‘Reviving and Reshaping’, the prestigious Grand Prize, which is in its second year, aims to find and celebrate outstanding science and technology achievements that create positive changes for people. Each of this year’s five winners, including Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the World Wide Web software and wrote the first web browser; Dr Vinton Gray Cerf and Dr Robert Elliot Kahn who invented the Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP); and Dr Emmanuel Desurvire, who contributed to the EDFA development, will share a prize of $3m in recognition of their contributions to quality of life.