A Professor at the University of Strathclyde has been elected as an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Physics (IOP).
Emeritus Professor David Birch has received the accolade in recognition of a career spanning more than 40 years, in which he co-founded Strathclyde’s longest-running spinout company – one of the first such companies to emerge from a Scottish university.
Professor Birch, of Strathclyde's Department of Physics, is one of four new Honorary Fellows announced by IOP and joins a group of only around 70 worldwide. They also include Nobel Physics Laureate and former US Energy Secretary Professor Steven Chu and astrophysicist Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell.
Pioneering entrepreneur
IOP describes Professor Birch as “a pioneering university entrepreneur” and states that the company’s products feature “technology that has societal impact across many disciplines, including healthcare and semiconductors.” It also highlights Professor Birch’s 25 years of work on IOP publishing boards, which has “helped attract multidisciplinary submissions and industry sponsorship.”
Professor Birch said: “Fifty years after my PhD set my career path in physics, I am delighted and honoured to receive the IOP’s highest accolade. To be recognised for translating research into a world-leading company highlights the importance the IOP places on physics-powered business and university entrepreneurs.
“Facilitating the sharing of knowledge within the global research community by learned societies like the IOP and IOP Publishing helps create the application-focused innovation that is needed for business success.
I am deeply honoured for my working life in fluorescence to be recognised alongside such distinguished physicists. Many colleagues have contributed to the success of IBH, and helped deliver the vision we all shared in the critical early years.
“I would also like to thank the thousands of customers and users across science and engineering for their faith in IBH products. It has been a privilege and pleasure to support them in their research and I look forward to learning of their further discoveries and innovations using IBH instruments in the years ahead.”
Market leader
Professor Birch established IBH, now HORIBA Jobin Yvon IBH Ltd, in 1977 with colleagues Bob Imhof and Tony Hallam, with the aim of developing technology for measuring the time taken for fluorescence to be emitted by molecules. This has contributed to sales totalling hundreds of millions of pounds. IBH was acquired in 2003 by precision instruments manufacturer HORIBA and together they now lead the market in fluorescence spectroscopy.
The citation for the Fellowship states that he is receiving the award “for championing UK spinouts and physics in the support of multidisciplinary research” as founding chair of HORIBA Jobin Yvon IBH.
The company’s products include the FLIMera, a novel molecular movie camera with applications in medical research, disease diagnostics, screening, optically-guided surgery and tissue monitoring. HORIBA Jobin Yvon IBH received an IOP Business Innovation Award in 2019 for the FLIMera, with Professor Birch receiving the IoP Gabor Medal in 2020.