IRL researcher honoured for contribution

IRL researcher honoured for contribution to materials science

IRL high temperature superconductor researcher Dr Grant Williams has been honoured with one of the country’s most prestigious science awards.

Dr Williams, one of New Zealand’s foremost scientists working in materials research, was awarded the Hector Medal for his outstanding contribution to the advancement of the physical sciences, as part of last night’s Royal Society of New Zealand 2010 Research Honours event in Christchurch.

The award acknowledges his internationally recognised work on the chemical and electronic structure of materials, especially his application of nuclear magnetic resonance techniques to the understanding of high temperature superconductors (HTS) and related materials.

That work has the potential to deliver a suite of new devices with many possible applications in the electricity, transportation, medical, infrastructure reliability, communications and security sectors.

Another area of research for Dr Williams is new materials for magnetic sensing, radiation detection and imaging, fibre optic communications and optics-based imaging and sensing. He is currently developing a portable fibre optic radiation sensor for medical, security and radiation protection applications and working on other, proof-of-concept devices.

Dr Williams, who joined IRL in 1993, is one of New Zealand ’s most highly-cited scientists with more than 165 peer-reviewed journal articles. He is also involved in many research collaborations in New Zealand and internationally.

Dr Williams says he is delighted to receive recognition in this year’s New Zealand Research Honours. “This is a research area where IRL and New Zealand are world leaders and it is an honour to have our achievements acknowledged.”

IRL CEO Shaun Coffey says: “Dr William’s outstanding work has played a crucial role in the enabling HTS technology to move from blue skies research into a transformative technology estimated to be worth billions of dollars in the next decade.”

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