David Payne

University of Southampton, UK

David Payne is a Professor of Photonics and Director of the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) and the Zepler Institute at the University of Southampton. Over the last forty years, he has made numerous key contributions in optical fibre communications and laser technology. His work in fibre fabrication in the 1970s resulted in most of the special fibres used today, including the revolutionary erbium-doped fibre amplifier (EDFA) and kilowatt-class fibre lasers for manufacturing and defence. As an entrepreneur, he co-founded York Technologies, (now PK Technology Inc.), Fibercore, SENSA (now part of Schlumberger) and SPI Lasers plc (now part of the Trumpf Gruppe).

Payne received a Knighthood in 2013 for services to photonics and in 2018 with his colleagues won the Queen's Anniversary Prize that celebrates excellence, innovation and public benefit in work carried out by UK universities. This recognition and his numerous prizes and awards places him among the most highly regarded scientists and engineers in the UK.  Prof Payne is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Indian Academy of Engineering, the Russian, Indian and Norwegian Academy of Sciences, the IET (UK), the IoP (UK), Optica and SPIE.

Adrian Podoleanu

University of Kent, UK

Adrian Podoleanu (Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, of the Institute of Physics, of Optica, of SPIE and an International Fellow of Chinese Optical Society) is the Head of the Applied Optics Group, Professor of Biomedical Optics in the Department of Mathematics, Engineering and Physics, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK, an investigator of the Biomedical Research Centre, University College London (UCL) and Institute of Ophthalmology and honorary professor in the UCL. He received the Ph.D. degree in Electronics from the Electronics and Telecommunications Faculty, Technical University of Bucharest, Romania in 1984. He was a founder member of the Romanian Chapter of SPIE and its first Chairman (1992). Currently he serves as the Associate Secretary of the International Commission for Optics. AWARDS: Order of the Crown, officer, Royal House of Romania, 2017; Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award 2015; European Research Council, Advanced Research Fellowship, 2010-2015; Ambassador’s Diploma, Embassy of Romania in the UK, 2009; Leverhulme Research Fellowship, 2004 – 2006; Romanian Academy “Constantin Miculescu” prize for research in Lasers and Nonlinear Optics, 1984.