Brive, FR - PHOTONIS SAS, a leading electro-optic component manufacturer, is pleased to announce that long-time employee Ray Fairbend has been selected to receive an Honorary Doctorate in Science from the University of Leicester (UK). Mr. Fairbend will be recognized during a ceremony at the University on 26 January, 2011 for his significant contributions to space science while employed at PHOTONIS.
During his career at PHOTONIS, Mr. Fairbend has contributed to a number of space science projects in conjunction with the University of Leicester and other partner facilities to improve the quality and sensitivity of radiation, photon and particle detection in deep space. He has developed a wide range of specialized optical and particle detectors to provide highly sensitive detection of high-energy phenomena on space missions. His innovations include a wide range of products all of which were custom-designed for a unique space mission, including large-area microchannel plates, thermally and spherically curved detectors and radially-packed square pore optics.
Mr. Fairbend’s innovations have been deployed on such important missions as CHANDRA, FUSE, EUVE, ALEXIS, ROSETTA and PLUTO as well as MIXS-T and MIXS-C. In conjunction with his development teams, he has co-authored a number of articles which detail the advancements in MCP and MPO detection in space and holds a patent for his work. Additionally, PHOTONIS SAS has received two awards from NASA as a result of Mr. Fairbend’s developments for COS and GALEX. COS was integrated into the Space Shuttle Mission in 2009, and today his focus is on detection optics for BEPI COLUMBO.
PHOTONIS Technologies President and CEO, Goossen Boers, said, “PHOTONIS has long been a developmental partner to the University of Leicester in order to create advanced detectors to enhance our understanding of the universe. Our leading role in MCP and MPO detection in space is unquestionably the result of Ray Fairbend’s hard work and team leadership, and I know all I speak for all of his colleagues when I say how pleased we are to congratulate him on this prestigious honor.”
Mr. Fairbend commented on the award, “I do consider that whatever the contributions were, for me they were truly the result of a practical approach to the challenges in hand. I have spent most of my life in laboratory and development environments. I find great pleasure in contributing to understanding and solving practical problems in practical ways.”
A forty-year employee at PHOTONIS, Mr. Fairbend began his career in chemical engineering and worked his way into electronic engineering for what was at the time Philips Night Vision (now PHOTONIS). He later was instrumental in developing and advancing the technologies behind image-quality fiber optics, microchannel plates (MCPs) and micro-pore optics (MPOs). These product advancements resulted in a long-standing partnership with the University of Leicester which produced a number of specially-designed MCP and MPO detectors for use in the detection and characterization high energy phenomena. A British native, today Mr. Fairbend resides in France with his wife, Veronique Jean. The couple has a daughter, Tanya.
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