Dr Steve Collins and Richard Webb from Department of Physics and Astronomy have been awarded a prestigious Institute of Physics Technical Skills Team Award in the Technician Awards section.
The Institute of Physics (IOP) is the professional body and learned society for physics, and the leading body for practising physicists, in the UK and Ireland. With a rich history of supporting business innovation and growth, it is committed to working with ‘physics-based’ businesses, and companies that apply and employ physics and physicists.
The IOP’s prestigious Technical Skills Awards are unique in the UK and Ireland in recognising the significant contributions that technicians and apprentices make to physics, and in recognising employers that demonstrate their commitment and contribution to scientific and engineering apprenticeship schemes.
The Technician Awards recognises and celebrates the skills and experience of technicians and their contribution to physics; and there are five categories - secondary schools, further education and higher education, national research facilities, business, and teams.
Dr Steve Collins and Richard Webb have won the IOP 2023 Institute of Physics Technical Skills Team Award, for their outstanding technical expertise and support to students and staff as part of the undergraduate physics laboratory at the University of Sheffield.
You can read more about their award and the reasons why they won on the IOP Technician Awards webpages.
Dr Steve Collins, joint-winner of the IOP Technician Skills Team Award 2023, said: "It's a great honour to be selected for this award, I think it highlights the commitment that technicians have to their departments and it is excellent that this commitment has been recognised by academic and teaching staff. Without the efforts of Dr Bianca Sala, Dr Matt Mears and Prof Luke Wilson, in submitting myself and Richard for the award and providing supporting statements, I know that this contribution will have been missed by the wider community."
Richard Webb, joint-winner of the IOP Technician Skills Team Award 2023, said: "I am delighted to have won this award jointly with Steve, it has been a pleasure to work with him for many years. Thanks to Dr Bianca Sala for the nomination and to Dr Matt Mears and Prof Luke Wilson for their supporting statements. Thanks also to the IOP for selecting us as winners."
"Having recently retired after almost 43 years service to the Physics and Astronomy Department, it gives me great pleasure to accept this honour at the end of my career."
Congratulating this year’s Award winners, Institute of Physics President, Professor Sir Keith Burnett, said:
“On behalf of the Institute of Physics, I want to congratulate all of this year’s award winners. Each one has made a significant and positive impact in their profession, whether as a researcher, teacher, industrialist, technician or apprentice and I hope they are incredibly proud of their achievements."
“There is so much focus today on the opportunities generated by a career in physics and the potential our science has to transform our society and economy and I hope the stories of our winners will help to inspire future generations of scientists."
