Cyril Hilsum: Difference between revisions

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{{short description|British physicist}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Cyril Hilsum
| honorific_suffix = {{postnom|country=GBR|CBE|FRS|HonFInstP|FREng|size=100%}}
| image = Conference on RACIP2 Group Photo.jpg
| image_size = 180px
| caption = Hilsum at the Second International Conference on Research and Communications in Physics
|caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1925|5|17}}
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| citizenship =
| nationality = British
| ethnicity =
| fields =
| workplaces =
| alma_mater = [[University College London]]
| doctoral_advisor =
| academic_advisors =
| doctoral_students =
| notable_students =
| known_for = liquid-crystal science and technology
| author_abbrev_bot =
| author_abbrev_zoo =
| influences =
| influenced =
| awards = [[Max Born Prize]] (1987)<br />[[Faraday Medal]] (1988)<br />[[Glazebrook Medal]] (1997)<br />[[Royal Medal]] (2007)<br />[[FREng]]<ref name="List of Fellows">{{cite web|title=List of Fellows|url=http://www.raeng.org.uk/about-us/people-council-committees/the-fellowship/list-of-fellows|access-date=17 October 2014|archive-date=8 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160608094405/http://www.raeng.org.uk/about-us/people-council-committees/the-fellowship/list-of-fellows|url-status=dead|website=[[Royal Academy of Engineering]]}}</ref> (1978)<br/>[[Max Born Prize]] (1987)<br />[[Faraday Medal]] (1988)<br />[[Richard Glazebrook Medal and Prize]] (1997)<br />[[Royal Medal]] (2007)
| religion =
| signature = <!-- (filename only) -->
| footnotes =
| children = [[Lindsey Hilsum]] and [[Karen Burt]]
}}
'''Cyril Hilsum''' {{postnom|country=GBR|CBE|FRS|HonFInstP|FREng}}<ref name="List of Fellows"/> (born 17 May 1925)<ref name="fp">{{cite web|url=http://www.davidaspencer.com/oldraineians/pr030famousraineians.html |title=Famous personalities from Raine's Foundation School |accessdateaccess-date=13 November 2008 |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080616012837/http://www.davidaspencer.com/oldraineians/pr030famousraineians.html |archivedatearchive-date=16 June 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> is a British physicist and academic.
 
Hilsum was elected a member of the [[National Academy of Engineering]] in 1983 for the inventiveness and leadership in introducing [[Boron group|III]]-[[Pnictogen|V]] semiconductors[[semiconductor]]s into electronic technology.
 
==Life==
Hilsum entered [[Raine's Foundation School]] in 1936 as the middle of three brothers, leaving in 1943 after being accepted into [[University College London]], where he did his BSc. In 1945, he joined the [[Royal Naval Scientific Service]], moving in 1947 to the [[Admiralty Research Laboratory]].<ref name="fp"/> In 1950, he transferred again to the [[Services Electronics Research Laboratory]] (SERL) where he remained until 1964 before again moving, this time to the [[Royal Radar Establishment]].<ref name="fp"/> He won the [[Heinrich Welker Memorial Award]] in 1978,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iscs2007.org/index.php?Awards|title=Awards – ISCS2007|accessdateaccess-date=13 November 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401014824/http://www.iscs2007.org/index.php?Awards|archive-date=1 April 2009|url-status=dead|website=International Symposium on Compound Semiconductors}}</ref> was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering]],<ref name="List of Fellows"/> a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] in 1979 and an honorary member of the American [[National Academy of Engineering]].<ref name="fp"/> In 1983, he was appointed Chief Scientist at [[Hirst Research Centre|GEC Hirst Research Centre]]. He was awarded the [[Max Born Prize]] in 1987, the 1988 [[Faraday Medal]], and from then until 1990 served as President of the [[Institute of Physics]]. In the 1990 [[Queen's Birthday Honours]], he was appointed a [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (CBE)<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=52173|pages=7–8|date=15 June 1990}}</ref> for "services to the Electrical and Electronics Industry".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?LinkID=mp06516|title=Cyril Hilsum (1925–) Physicist|accessdate=13 November 2008}}</ref> He was the subject of a photograph by [[Nick Sinclair]] in 1993 that is currently held by the [[National Portrait Gallery (London)|National Portrait Gallery]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw09509/Cyril-Hilsum|title=NPG P564(10) Cyril Hilsum|accessdate=28 March 2019}}</ref> In 1997, he was awarded the Glazebrook Medal and Prize from the Institute of Physics, and is notable as the only scientist to hold both this and the Faraday Medal together.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://malvernscienceservices.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=91:professor-cyril-hilsum-cbe&catid=48:our-team&Itemid=89 |title=Professor Cyril Hilsum CBE |accessdate=13 November 2008 }}{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He has served as a corporate research advisor for various entities, including [[Cambridge Display Technology]], the [[European Commission]] and [[Unilever]]. In 2007, he was awarded the [[Royal Society]]'s [[Royal Medal]] 'for his many outstanding contributions and for continuing to use his prodigious talents on behalf of industry, government and academe to this day'.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://royalsociety.org/page.asp?id=1750|title=Royal Medal recent winners|accessdate=13 November 2008}}</ref>
 
In 1983, he was appointed chief scientist at [[Hirst Research Centre|GEC Hirst Research Centre]]. He was awarded the [[Max Born Prize]] in 1987, the 1988 [[Faraday Medal]], and from then until 1990 served as president of the [[Institute of Physics]]. In the 1990 [[Queen's Birthday Honours]], he was appointed a [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (CBE)<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=52173|pages=7–8|date=15 June 1990}}</ref> for "services to the Electrical and Electronics Industry".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp06516/cyril-hilsum|title=Cyril Hilsum (1925–) Physicist|access-date=30 January 2024|website=[[National Portrait Gallery (London)|National Portrait Gallery]]}}</ref> He was the subject of a photograph by [[Nick Sinclair]] in 1993 that is currently held by the [[National Portrait Gallery (London)|National Portrait Gallery]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw09509/Cyril-Hilsum|title=NPG P564(10) Cyril Hilsum|access-date=28 March 2019|website=[[National Portrait Gallery (London)|National Portrait Gallery]]}}</ref> In 1998, he was awarded the [[Richard Glazebrook Medal and Prize]] from the Institute of Physics, and is notable as the only scientist to hold both this and the Faraday Medal together.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://malvernscienceservices.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=91:professor-cyril-hilsum-cbe&catid=48:our-team&Itemid=89 |title=Professor Cyril Hilsum CBE |access-date=13 November 2008|website=Malvern Science Services}}{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
Hilsum serves as Chairman of the Scientific Board for Peratech and is a Visiting Professor of Physics at UCL, as well as sitting on the Defence Scientific Advisory Council.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.peratech.com/board.php |title=Peratech Board Members |accessdate=13 November 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107041336/http://www.peratech.com/board.php |archivedate=7 January 2009 }}</ref> He also endorses the [[Karen Burt]] Memorial Award, named after his [[Karen Burt|daughter]], which is awarded yearly by the [[Women's Engineering Society]] 'to a woman engineer of high calibre who has newly attained full corporate membership and Chartered Engineer status through her relevant professional Institution and who has contributed to the promotion of the engineering profession'.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wes.org.uk/?q=content/jane-wild-was-presented-karen-burt-memorial-award-wes-president-pam-wain|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815234809/http://www.wes.org.uk/?q=content%2Fjane-wild-was-presented-karen-burt-memorial-award-wes-president-pam-wain|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 August 2017|title=Jane Wild was presented with the Karen Burt Memorial Award by WES president Pam Wain|accessdate=13 November 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In 2006, he was made a Fellow of the ESSCIRC,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.esscirc.org/en/page/fellows.aspx|title=ESSCIRC – Fellows|accessdate=13 November 2008}}</ref> and in 2007 wrote an obituary for [[Gareth Roberts (physicist)|Gareth Roberts]] for [[The Guardian]]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2007/mar/17/obituaries.guardianobituaries|title=Obituary: Sir Gareth Roberts|accessdate=13 November 2008 | work=The Guardian | location=London | date=17 March 2007 | first=Cyril | last=Hilsum}}</ref> and the Royal Society.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Hilsum | first1 = C. | author-link = Cyril Hilsum| doi = 10.1098/rsbm.2011.0016 | title = Sir Gareth Gwyn Roberts. 16 May 1940 -- 6 February 2007 | journal = [[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] | year = 2011 | volume = 57 | pages = 379–393 | doi-access = free }}</ref>
 
He has served as a corporate research advisor for various entities, including [[Cambridge Display Technology]], the [[European Commission]] and [[Unilever]]. In 2007, he was awarded the [[Royal Society]]'s [[Royal Medal]] 'for his many outstanding contributions and for continuing to use his prodigious talents on behalf of industry, government and academe to this day'.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dsunM9ukGLgaW3HdG9cvJ_QKd7pWjGI0qi_fCb1ROD4/pubhtml?gid=1640032608&single=true|title=Award winners : Royal Medal|access-date=30 January 2024|via=[[Google Sheets]]|publisher=[[Royal Society]]}}</ref>
 
Hilsum serves as Chairmanchairman of the Scientificscientific Boardboard for Peratech and is a Visitingvisiting Professorprofessor of Physicsphysics at UCL, as well as sitting on the Defence Scientific Advisory Council.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.peratech.com/board.php |title=Peratech Board Members |accessdateaccess-date=13 November 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107041336/http://www.peratech.com/board.php |archivedatearchive-date=7 January 2009 |website=Peratech}}</ref> He also endorses the [[Karen Burt]] Memorial Award, named after his [[Karen Burt|daughter]], which is awarded yearly by the [[Women's Engineering Society]] 'to a woman engineer of high calibre who has newly attained full corporate membership and Chartered Engineer status through her relevant professional Institution and who has contributed to the promotion of the engineering profession'.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wes.org.uk/?q=content/jane-wild-was-presented-karen-burt-memorial-award-wes-president-pam-wain|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815234809/http://www.wes.org.uk/?q=content%2Fjane-wild-was-presented-karen-burt-memorial-award-wes-president-pam-wain|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 August 2017|title=Jane Wild was presented with the Karen Burt Memorial Award by WES president Pam Wain|accessdateaccess-date=13 November 2008|df=dmy-all|website=[[Women's Engineering Society]]}}</ref> In 2006, he was made a Fellow of the ESSCIRC,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.esscirc.org/en/page/fellows.aspx|title=ESSCIRC – Fellows|accessdateaccess-date=13 November 2008|website=European Conference on Solid-State Circuits|archive-date=25 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081025062949/http://www.esscirc.org/en/page/fellows.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref> and in 2007 wrote an obituary for [[Gareth Roberts (physicist)|Gareth Roberts]] for ''[[The Guardian]]''<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2007/mar/17/obituaries.guardianobituaries|title=Obituary: Sir Gareth Roberts|accessdate=13 November 2008 | work=[[The Guardian | location=London]] | date=17 March 2007 | first=Cyril | last=Hilsum}}</ref> and the Royal Society.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1last = Hilsum | first1first = C. | author-link = Cyril Hilsum| doi = 10.1098/rsbm.2011.0016 | title = Sir Gareth Gwyn Roberts. 16 May 1940 -- 6 February 2007 | journal = [[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] | year = 2011 | volume = 57 | pages = 379–393 | doi-access = free }}</ref>
 
==Research==
While working for the [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]], Hilsum helped develop commercial applications for [[gallium arsenide]], and was responsible for creating the UK's first [[semiconductor laser]]. He was one of the developers of the
[[Ridley Watkins Hilsum theory|Ridley-Watkins-Hilsum theory]] that provided the theoretical basis of the [[Gunn diode]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mwrf.com/Articles/Print.cfm?ArticleID=19913|title=CYRILCyril HILSUMHilsum|accessdateaccess-date=13 November 2008|url-status=dead|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714141532/http://www.mwrf.com/Articles/Print.cfm?ArticleID=19913|archivedatearchive-date=14 July 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref> and his research helped form the basis of modern [[LCD]] technology,<ref>[{{Cite journal|url=http://www.lcd-displays-manufacturers.com/suserfiles/upload/lcd_history_blaze_display.pdf |title=The history of liquid-crystal displays] {{webarchive|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121144533/http://www.lcd-displays-manufacturers.com/suserfiles/upload/lcd_history_blaze_display.pdf |archive-date=21 January 2013 }}, |url-status=dead|first=Hirohisa |last=Kawamoto, |journal=Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. |volume=90, No. |number=4, |date=April 2002|pages=460–500 |doi=10.1109/JPROC.2002.1002521 }}</ref> bringing in over £100m to the UK government. The [[British Liquid Crystal Society]] awards a Cyril Hilsum Medal each year "to British candidates for overall contributions to liquid-crystal science and technology. The award is made to mid-career scientists who have made notable contributions to the subject over a number of years."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0804/08043004|title=Cyril Hilsum Medal awarded|accessdatedate=30 April 2008|access-date=13 November 2008}}</ref>
 
==Personal life==
He married Betty Hilsum, with whom he had two daughters, [[Lindsey Hilsum|Lindsey]], a correspondent for [[Channel 4]]<ref>{{cite news|url=httphttps://www.timesonlinethetimes.co.uk/tolarticle/news/uk/article841551.ece?token=null&offsetbroadcast-media-lp7d9f9hkcr|url-access=12subscription|title=Broadcast media – Times Online|accessdateaccess-date=13 November 2008 | location=London | workwebsite=[[The Times]] | date=5 January 2004}}</ref> and [[Karen Burt]], an engineer who died in 1997 and has a [[Women's Engineering Society]] memorial award named after her.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=nav.5929|title=Karen Burt Award :|website=[[British BCSComputer Society]]|accessdateaccess-date=13 November 2008|archive-date=5 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100705043141/http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=nav.5929|url-status=dead}}</ref>
 
==Works==
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[[Category:English physicists]]
[[Category:Semiconductor physicists]]
[[Category:Fellow MembersFellows of the IEEE]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering]]