Dr. Calum Hill, Development Engineer at Vector Photonics, has been awarded an Engineering Doctorate (EngD) from the Centre for Doctoral Training in Applied Photonics, at Heriot-Watt University. The award resulted from his collaborative research work with Thales UK, summarised in his thesis, “Environmentally Stable, Near-Infrared, Mode-locked Fibre Lasers for Radar and Lidar Applications”.

“The focus of my research at Thales UK was to progress the technology readiness level and environmental resilience of lasers in two, key projects,” explained Calum. “The first was a low-noise, GHz repetition rate, fibre laser for military applications. The second was a high pulse energy, 1.5um, passively mode-locked, fibre laser for non-line-of-sight lidar. This targeted autonomous vehicle and disaster relief drone applications.”

The Doctor of Engineering degree is equivalent to a PhD, with an emphasis on applied research over theoretical knowledge. It develops both commercial and technical capabilities, whilst working on current, industrial projects.