Holmes-Siedle
2001 NSREC Award Winner
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| Andrew Holmes-Siedle 2001 NSREC Award Winner |
The 2001 Radiation Effects Award was presented to Dr. Andrew Holmes-Siedle, Brunel University of West London and REM Oxford Ltd., during the opening ceremonies of the conference. Dale Platteter, the chairman of the IEEE Radiation Effects Group Steering (RESG), made the presentation. Dr. Holmes-Siedle received this honor for contributions to the field of radiation dosimetry and his encouragement of young researchers in the field of radiation effects. He is well known for his invention of the RadFET solid-state pMOS dosimeter, which has seen wide application in space, medical, and high-energy physics research.
Born in Brighton, England, Dr. Holmes-Siedle served in the UK Royal Air Force, graduated in chemistry from Trinity College, Dublin in 1954, and completed a Ph.D and post-doctoral research at Cambridge University from 1954-1960 on the transfer of energy within biological and chemical systems. Following this, he worked on communication satellite designs with Hawker-Siddeley (now British Aerospace).
In 1962, Dr. Holmes-Siedle moved to the US and became the Manager of Radiation Effects at RCA Space Center (now Lockheed- Martin), where he directed basic research and spacecraft engineering support. During his time at RCA, he also served as a Visiting Scientist with the Princeton University Aerospace Engineering Department, where he investigated the physics of defects in solids and the radiation hardening of then-novel devices developed by RCA (solar cells and MOS devices).
He returned to Europe in 1972 as a Senior Fellow in the Physics Department of the University of Reading, England, initiating work on the effects of far-UV radiation in dielectric films on semiconductors. From 1975 to 1992, as a consultant for Fulmer Research Institute, he developed new business areas in industrial sensors and radiation effects testing with organizations including the European Space Agency, the UK Atomic Energy Authority and the UK Ministry of Defence. During this time, he also started a new company to develop and produce the RadFET dosimeter. He then moved to Brunel University as Honorary Professor where he formed the Centre for Radiation Damage Studies in the Physics Department. Work there included high-energy particle detection, silicon imaging devices and close collaboration with students.
Dr Holmes-Siedle has been associated with several unique space experiments to detect environmental effects on spacecraft such as the development of systems measuring radiation doses and single event effects in space. With co-author, Len Adams, he evolved the Handbook of Radiation Effects published by Oxford University Press from a number of sponsored contract study reports. Testing detectors for use in astronomy, space instrumentation, and high energy physics detector systems has become his major research topic at Brunel University, while REM formed partnerships with the Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA and the Institute for Cancer Research in Genova, Italy, to design probes for radiotherapy .
Dr. Holmes-Siedle is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (IOP), a past member of the IOP Electronics Committee, a Senior Member of the IEEE and of the Radiation Effects Committee. He received NASA and IR-100 awards and a medal of the University of Montpellier for his work and has received patents on a gas detector and a micro-engineered detector for UV light. He has written 60 research papers, two books, and several industrial handbooks.
The prestigious Radiation Effects Award is presented by NPSS on a yearly basis in recognition of a “sustained history of outstanding and innovative technical contributions and/or leadership contributions to the Radiation Effects Community”. It includes a plaque and a cash award of $2000. The nomination process is open to any member of the Radiation Effects Committee. A nomination form and directions are available at the NSREC Web site, www.nsrec.com/nominate.htm.
Article by James Kinnison who can be reached at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 J. Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723; Phone: +1 240 228-6169; Fax: +1 240 228-6696; E-mail: jim.kinnison@jhuapl.edu