Professor Graham Reed has been appointed the new Director of the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC). The announcement follows the stepping down of former Director, Sir David Payne, who will now focus on research and enterprise activities.
David has served the ORC as Director for 28 years and, in this time, he led the ORC to world prominence in research and enterprise. During his tenure, the ORC has been at the forefront of photonics research, achieving breakthroughs in optical fibre, lasers, waveguides, devices and optoelectronic materials. Inventions created at the ORC now power the internet, cut and weld steel, are on the moon, Mars and the space station. In recognition of the ORC’s world-leading expertise, the University of Southampton was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2018. Under Sir David, the ORC has built strong links with industry, research institutions and universities around the world. In 2014, it launched The Photonics Institute with Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore and the entrepreneurial activities at the ORC have resulted in the creation of a “photonics valley” cluster of 11 substantial companies in the local area.
Professor Graham Reed will be taking over as Director of the ORC in August 2023. David said: “The ORC is fortunate to have the leadership of Graham Reed, a research pioneer in Silicon Photonics. Under him the ORC is in safe hands and I look forward to the next phase of our development. We have been in existence in one form or another for nearly 60 years and this change will further strengthen our global presence.”
Regarding his recent appointment as Director, Graham said: “I am honoured that the University have chosen me to lead the prestigious ORC. I must of course pay tribute to Sir David Payne for his extraordinary service to both the University and the ORC, establishing and consolidating our position one of the world’s premier photonics institutes over such an extended period. I very much look forward to working with the amazing staff and students at Southampton to write the next chapter of the story.”
