NATIONAL MEASUREMENT AWARDS ANNOUNCED
23 November 2004 - National Physical Laboratory

A device which lets scientists scrutinise individual atoms and a technique for looking inside red hot steel were among winners of the 2004 National Measurement Awards announced at a gala dinner at the National Physical Laboratory on Monday (22 Nov 2004). Other winners included a novel method to ensure food safety and a technique for building fibre optic sensors one molecule at a time.

The awards, managed by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) on behalf of DTI, recognise outstanding achievements in the field of measurement and testing.
Measurement and testing are critical to progress in technology, standards and quality.

New measurement technologies are key to improving the UK's manufacturing competitiveness and pushing back the frontiers of research.

The 2004 National Measurement Award winners are:

* Innovative Measurement award - Winner: Oxford University's Materials Department and Oxford nanoScience, the first team to build a three-dimensional atom probe, a device enabling researchers to see and characterize individual atoms.

* The NPL Materials Award - Winner: Iain Fielden from Sheffield Hallam University, a young materials scientist who pioneered a technique for seeing into the structure of red hot steel and other metals. He introduced an obsolete technology from three decades ago to overcome a previously insurmountable obstacle.

* Frontier Science and Measurement Award - Winners: Dr Stephen James, Prof Geoff Ashwell and Prof Ralph P Tatam from Cranfield University - for a technique allowing deposition of single layers of molecules onto optical fibre to make new types of sensors to measure temperature, strain and chemical properties.

* Measurement Solutions for Industry - Winner: Gary Tucker from the Campden and Chorleywood Food Research Association (CCFRA) for an innovative new way to underpin the safety of food processing.

* Pioneers of measurement - Winner: Peter Zecchin from the Weighing Panel at the Institute of Measurement and Control, which has been rewarded for its work over the past 14 years to raise the profile of industrial weighing and guide those working in the area.

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