Sir David Payne is a professor of photonics and director of the Optoelectronics Research Centre at the University and for over 50 years has been recognised globally for his research in developing optical fibre technology.
A multi award winning scientist 78-year-old Sir David, who lives in Hamble, has just received his latest accolade in Hanoi, Vietnam: the VinFuture Foundation Grand Prize for his breakthrough in what’s known as the erbium-doped fibre amplifier (EDFA), which made possible the internet optical backbone.
Under the theme “Reviving and Reshaping”, the prestigious VinFuture Prize 2022, which is in its second year, aims to find and celebrate outstanding science and technology achievements that create positive changes following the pandemic. Its aim is also to help foster sustainable development for millions of people around the world. Each of this year’s five winners, who include Sir Timothy John 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 the quality of life.
Thirty-five years ago, Sir David and his team at Southampton made one of the most significant developments in modern telecommunications. It was a discovery that was set to transform the Internet and become the backbone of the internet as we know it today.
Now, 35 years later his development of the erbium doped fibre amplifier (EDFA) – the world’s first successful optical amplifier, which employs the rare earth ion erbium to boost the intensity of the signals as they spread through the billion-km world wide web of optical fibres – still plays a pivotal role in our global communications.
Upon receiving the prize from VinFuture, Sir David, said:: “VinFuture 2022 is a great prize. Beyond the goal of honoring science–technology inventions, the prize also serves as a bridge connecting the brilliant minds of scientists, contributing to collaboration on breakthrough ideas and helping to change the lives of millions of people across the world. To me, the greatest accolade is recognition by my peers, by other scientists. To be on the same platform with Tim Berners-Lee, Vinton Cerf, and other prize winners is absolutely incredible for me. As I’m approaching the end of my career, I can now look back and say, I did something that changed the world. That is important to me.”
