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Honour for pioneers in digital imaging

Honour for pioneers in digital imaging

Michael Tompsett, left, with Nobukazu Teranishi and Eric Fossum

The 2017 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering was awarded to four pioneers in digital imaging, a group that includes alumnus Michael Tompsett.

The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering is a £1million prize celebrating world-changing engineering innovations. Four engineers responsible for the creation of digital imaging sensors were honoured: Eric Fossum, George Smith, Nobukazu Teranishi and Tompsett. Their innovations that revolutionised the visual world include the charge coupled device (CCD), the pinned photodiode (PPD) and the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor.

Digital imaging sensors have enabled high-speed, low-cost colour imaging at a resolution and sensitivity that can exceed that of the human eye. They offer instant access to images ranging from minute cell structures to galaxies billions of light years away, transforming medicine, science, communication and entertainment.

The revolution began in the 1970s with the development of the CCD by Smith and its use in imaging by Tompsett. The CCD is the image sensor inside early digital cameras, converting particles of light, or photons, into electrical signals enabling the image to be stored as digital data. The following decade, Teranishi invented the pinned photodiode (PPD), reducing the size of light-capturing ‘pixels’ and significantly improving image quality. The development of the CMOS sensor by Fossum in 1992 allowed cameras to be made smaller, cheaper and with better battery life.

Tompsett is an engineer, inventor and founder-director of the US software company TheraManager. He invented the imaging semiconductor circuit and the analogue-to-digital converter chip at the heart of the CCD image sensor technology used by most modern digital cameras and smartphones. Born in Britain, he studied physics and completed his PhD in engineering at the University of Cambridge.

Michael Tompsett with early digital camera

In 2012 the US government awarded him the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, its highest honour for engineers and inventors. He has also been presented with the IEEE Edison Gold Medal and was elected a Member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Professor Sir Christopher Snowden, Chair of Judges of the prize said: “A picture is a universal form of communication. It can be shared instantly with anyone around the world, no matter what language they speak. We chose this engineering innovation because it epitomises what the prize stands for. It is inspirational, truly something that everyone can understand, and it has had a remarkable social impact worldwide.”

Chair of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation, Lord Browne of Madingley, said: “The spirit of international collaboration driving the work of George Smith, Michael Tompsett, Nobukazu Teranishi and Eric Fossum encapsulates perfectly the ideals of the QEPrize. In honouring them we hope to inspire the next generation of engineers to continue to push back the frontiers of the possible.” 

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