The funding was given by the Royal Academy of Engineering chair in emerging technologies, and marks a milestone in the pursuit of innovations that have the potential to reshape industries like manufacturing and healthcare. 

Professor Travers, director of the Laboratory of Ultrafast Physics and Optics at Heriot-Watt University, looks to harness wave formations discovered by Scottish civil engineer John Scott Russell in the Union Canal two centuries ago, repurposing them as light waves to generate ultrafast optical pulses with durations measured in attoseconds – a million billionth of a second.

“The Royal Academy of Engineering award is fantastic because it provides long-term funding to underpin our research,” said Travers.

“We will be able to recruit new academic staff at the assistant professor level and also build a centre of excellence in this area. So we’re not just boosting what we do, but actually recruiting more expertise from around the world.”

The technique developed by Travers’ team yields a potent form of ultraviolet light with transformative applications across various sectors, including electronics, drug discovery, and artificial intelligence. By leveraging these ultrashort pulses, researchers can delve into the smallest spatial scales, enabling unprecedented imaging, probing, and manipulation of matter.

“If we can create these extremely short pulses of X-ray or electron beams, it means we can image, probe and control matter on the smallest possible spatial scale – on a tiny, microscopic scale – and also on the fastest possible timescale – simultaneously,” continued Travers.

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One of the remarkable attributes of Professor Travers’ ultraviolet system is its compact, tabletop size, contrasting the colossal, multi-billion dollar machines traditionally used to generate ultraviolet and X-ray light sources.

Already adopted in 14 different laboratories worldwide, including healthcare and semiconductor facilities, the system promises to democratise access to cutting-edge ultraviolet technologies.

The grant is part of the chair in Emerging Technologies scheme, backed by the UK Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, which has allocated over £100 million to 43 chairs since 2017.

Dr Andrew Clark, Executive Director of Programmes at the Royal Academy of Engineering, added: “I am excited to announce this latest round of chairs in Emerging Technology. The mid-term reviews of the previous rounds of chairs are providing encouraging evidence that long-term funding of this nature helps to bring the groundbreaking and influential ideas of visionary engineers to fruition. I look forward to seeing the impacts of these four exceptionally talented individuals.”