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Allan Boardman is well known both in the UK and globally for his work on surface plasmons and guided wave optics, especially nonlinear waves and solitons. He is the leading theorist looking at nonlinear guided magnetooptic waves. Allan is Professor of Applied Physics and holds a Doctor of Science degree from the University of Durham UK.

Allan has recently been elected Fellow of the prestigious Optical Society of America and has been cited for his seminal work in guided wave optics, non-linear effects and his outstanding leadership in optics.

He is Topical Editor for the Journal of the Optical Society of America B and has organised conferences and been a director of a number of NATO Advanced Study Institutes. Allan is chair of the Quantum Electronics and Photonics Group and Honorary Secretary of both the Computational Group and the Optics and Photonics Division of the UK Institute of Physics.

Allan can be located in the Institute for Materials Research,(IMR) University of Salford and through the link Photonics Research.

The Vice President works within a University context that emphasises enterprise and business creation through the following;
Photonic Research Systems Limited
Turnkey Time-Gated Imaging Systems for Fluorescence and
Phosphorescence
CVD Technologies Limited
Specialist Consultancy, Research and Product Development in the
field of Chemical Vapour Deposition, Experts in Continuous High
Volume and Batch Coating Technologies
Instrumentation Design Limited
Instrumentation Design Ltd. provides design and prototyping
of modern opto-electronic systems for measurement, diagnostics
and control, along with advice and tuition in opto-electronic
applications
and the following Research Centre:
Centre for Environmental Systems Research
CESR is a focus for research in geography, environmental science and
environmental engineering and includes work at the interface between
human activity and the natural and built environment.

In 1988 he moved to Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh where he established a research group specialising in the physics and technology of optical fibres, with over 500 publications in the field. He is Professor of Engineering Optics and Head of the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences at Heriot-Watt University.

Amongst his external appointments he is a Director of OptoSci Ltd, President of the UK Consortium for Photonics and Optics, member of the Council of the Institute of Physics and Chairman of the Atomic Weapons Establishment Corporate Advisory Panel. He has made many contributions to the work of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

Julian Jones was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2000 and a Fellow of the Optical Society of America in 2004. He was appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year’s Honours of 2002, ‘for services to science and engineering’.

Richard has a wide-ranging background in optoelectronics stretching over the past 35 years.

After obtaining his PhD at Reading University in 1969 Richard held post-doctoral appointments at both Reading and Freiburg (Germany) before joining Heriot Watt University in 1970. He contributed to the academic life of the growing Physics Department, rising to become a Senior Lecturer. During 1976-78 he was a Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt foundation working at the University of Munich (Germany). Richard's research interests span diverse areas of semiconductors, laser physics, non-linear optics, molecular spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, photon statistics and the nature of light.

Richard was associated with Edinburgh Instruments Ltd since it was formed in 1971 as the first academic spin-out company on the Heriot Watt University Research Park. He was Managing Director and more recently Vice Chairman over a period exceeding 20 years.

Richard was a founder member of the United Kingdom Laser and Electro-Optics Trade Association (UKLEO) and is currently a Director (Treasurer and Company Secretary) of the United Kingdom Consortium of Photonics and Optics (UKCPO).

In 2005 Richard became co-founder of Gilden Photonics Ltd and is excited by the challenge of growing another successful opto-electronics company together with friends and colleagues across the globe.