ORC staff recognised for outstanding contribution at Dean’s Awards

A select number of academic members from the Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering (FPSE) at the University of Southampton have been recognised at the Faculty’s Dean Awards for Early Career Researchers reception event. 

The awards recognise an outstanding level of achievement, commitment and dedication within the categories of scientific publication, public engagement, managing staff, teaching, proposal writing and knowledge transfer and commercialisation. 

Dr Ben Mills from the Optoelectronics Research Centre was recognised in the category of managing staff, for his research output and lab management skills. Ben is the manager of the Femtosecond Applications of Science and Technology (FAST) lab, a multi-user facility where a variety of ultrafast laser experiments are performed: 

“I am really pleased to receive this award in recognition of my achievements as the manager of the FAST lab facility,” says Ben. 

“It has involved striking a careful balance between running the facility, seeking out and partaking in cross-disciplinary projects, and conducting my own independent research. I would like to thank the Faculty and my line manager, Professor Rob Eason, for giving me the opportunity to work at the forefront of ultrafast laser science, and more specifically, laser machining using digital multi-mirror device technology.” 

Dr Senthil Ganapathy, also from the ORC, won his award for teaching and for his major contribution to the new course on Photonic Materials in the ORC’s new MSc in Photonic Technologies. 

The full list of winners is as follows: 

Scientific research and publication 
• Dr Alexander Heidt (ORC) 
• Dr David Thomson (ORC) 
• Dr Talal Rahwan (ECS) 
• Dr Soon-Xin Ng (ECS) 

Managing staff 
• Dr Ben Mills (ORC) 

Teaching 
• Dr Senthil Ganapathy (ORC) 

Knowledge transfer and commercialisation 
• Dr Corin Gawith (ORC) 
• Dr Reuben Wilcox (ECS) 

Public engagement 
• Richard Chippendale (Physics and Astronomy) 

Proposal writing 
• Dr Anna Scaife (Physics and Astronomy) 

This is the first Dean’s Awards to take place in the University and it will now become an annual event. 

The award categories and the idea for the awards themselves resulted from the University becoming a signatory of the Concordat, which supports the careers of early career researchers. 

The awards were presented by the Dean of FPSE, Professor Dame Wendy Hall on June 18th 2013.