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Professor Daniele Faccio, from the University’s School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, has been awarded the prestigious Philip Leverhulme Prize.
Professor Faccio is head of the Extreme Light group at Heriot-Watt and will use the prize of £100,000 towards further research in the field of photonics and technologies related to light.
Over three years, the prize will be used to invite prominent scientists to Heriot-Watt University to collaborate with the Extreme Light group and support the group’s research activities.
Professor Faccio and his team are at the forefront of quantum photonics in the UK and a sterling example of the groundbreaking research that Heriot-Watt University is known for.”
Using light to see behind walls and around corners
Professor Faccio commented: “Light surrounds us, it allows us to see, it heats us and provides the planet with energy. It also remains the main investigative tool for a scientist.
“We are currently developing new technologies that allow us to measure light at its lowest possible intensity, at the single photon level.
“The advances we have made until now are providing us with a new way of thinking about light and about what we can do with it.
“One particularly promising project in this context is the use of light to see behind walls or around corners where we use the ability to freeze light in motion to capture very faint echoes of light that are reflected by hidden objects.”
Professor Steve McLaughlin, Head of the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences said: “The Philip Leverhulme Prize is awarded only to researchers who have made outstanding achievements and whose careers are exceptionally promising.
“Professor Faccio and his team are at the forefront of quantum photonics in the UK and a sterling example of the groundbreaking research that Heriot-Watt University is known for.”
Professor Faccio is one of just 30 academics in the UK to receive a 2015 Philip Leverhulme Prize.
He joined Heriot-Watt University in November 2010 and is currently leading the Extreme Light group, within the university’s Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences.