Dual Fellow honours from international optical societies for Professor Graham Reed

Professor Graham Reed from the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) has been elected as a Fellow of both the Optical Society of America (OSA) and the European Optical Society (EOS).

The Professor of Silicon Photonics received the dual honours over the course of just eight days last month at each of the prestigious society's annual general assemblies.

Professor Reed is Deputy Director of the ORC, which is based in the University of Southampton's Zepler Institute for Photonics and Nanoelectronics. He is Head of the Silicon Photonics Research Group and the Photonic Systems, Sensors and Circuits (PSCS) Research Group.

OSA and EOS are leading professional societies in photonics. Each year, the organisations select new Fellows for distinguished contributions to education, research, engineering and business in advancing the science of light.

Professor Reed says: "I am delighted to be honoured by election as Fellow to both the OSA and the EOS, but for both honours to coincide is doubly exciting. I must say that I attribute my group's success to the fantastic people that I work with, so I regard these honours as just as much a tribute to them as to me. I have been lucky enough to have been surrounded by exceptional people throughout my career, no more so than today, and they continue to do fantastic work."

Professor Reed's citation from the OSA recognises his foundational contributions in the field of silicon photonics, and leadership in innovating and driving the field.

"Silicon Photonics is currently transforming the way data is transmitted within data centres, in order to satisfy the ever increasing demand of internet communications," Professor Reed says. "It will continue to be the backbone of such communications for many years to come, and the innovation of teams such as ours will continue to facilitate this insatiable demand for growth."

Professor Reed established the Silicon Photonics Research Group at the University of Surrey in 1989. He and his group joined the University of Southampton in 2012, where his activity has evolved to look at larger and more complex circuits as the technology has become more advanced. The group has made a significant contribution in its field, most notably in waveguides, optical modulators, grating couplers, optical filters and switches.

"Silicon Photonics is now starting to impact more and more application areas," Professor Reed explains. "There are indications that the technology will revolutionise a whole host of additional fields from LIDAR based imaging, to chip-based sensors for healthcare, and from Artificial Intelligence (AI) and deep learning to mobile communications infrastructure. It's an amazing time to be working in Silicon Photonics."

Professor Reed currently leads the £6.2m Silicon Photonics for Future Systems programme, a UK research programme funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), as well as the £1.5m CORNERSTONE 2 EPSRC project, a £1.5m EPSRC Platform grant, a £4.9m EPSRC Prosperity Partnership project, and is part of the leadership team of the £10m National Hub in High Value Photonics Manufacturing. In addition, he leads several smaller industry and government contracts from the UK, Europe and internationally.