Microsoft Azure Fibre named Finalist for 2025 MacRobert Award for Engineering Innovation
Microsoft Azure Fibre has been announced as a finalist for the 2025 Royal Academy of Engineering MacRobert Award, in recognition of its groundbreaking hollow core optical fibre technology that is revolutionising data connectivity.
The technology—originally developed by Lumenisity, an Optoelectronics Research Centre (University of Southampton) spinout company—represents a significant advancement in the speed and efficiency of data transmission. Unlike conventional optical fibre, which transmits light through a solid glass core, hollow core fibre (HCF) features a central light-guiding core encased by tiny, layered glass tubes extending along the fibre, allowing for nearly instantaneous data transmission.
Professor Francesco Poletti said: “We are honoured that our decade-long work on low-latency HCF technology has been named one of the three finalists for the prestigious 2025 MacRobert Award. This recognition reflects the Optoelectronics Research Centre’s enduring commitment to pioneering and nurturing transformative innovation. It also stands as a tribute to the exceptional talent, dedication, and perseverance of the researchers and engineers at the University of Southampton, Lumenisity, and Microsoft Azure Fibre. I am privileged to have shared this remarkable journey with such outstanding collaborators.”
The MacRobert Award, established in 1969, is the UK's longest running and most prestigious national prize for engineering innovation. Administered by the Royal Academy of Engineering, it honours transformative engineering achievements that demonstrate outstanding innovation, proven commercial success, and tangible societal benefit.
Each year, the MacRobert Award builds on a legacy of celebrating British engineering excellence, showcasing innovations that have gone on to reshape industries and deliver global impact. Finalists are selected through a rigorous evaluation process by a panel of leading engineers and experts from across academia and industry.
Microsoft Azure Fibre joins a distinguished group of finalists in 2025, reflecting the growing significance of high-speed, high-capacity communications technologies in enabling the digital infrastructure of the future.
For more information and to watch the video interview visit: 2025 MacRobert Award finalists reinforce UK tech leadership status