Andrew Forbes — Making Magic with Light
For the uninitiated, photonics is an exceptionally wide field, but basically it is the science and the application of light in all its various forms, including the generation, transmission and processing of light in various applications.
Probably the best-known application for the man in the street is your smartphone. Look at the front screen: the entire front is photonics, with all the “buttons” not electronic but images; now turn it over: all the back is photonics too, with lenses, cameras and light sources. This is the power of photonics, in the palm of your hand. A quick glance at the accompanying article will illustrate what a hugely complex field of research this has become.
Which is a good thing, because we happen to have one of the world’s best, right here on our doorstep!
Andrew Forbes was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and emigrated to South Africa with his parents at the age of 5.
The family settled in Durban, Natal and he attended Morningside Primary School and later George Campbell Technical High School.
After matriculating, Andrew enrolled at the University of Natal and studied Physics, eventually receiving his PhD in Laser and Optics in 1998.
In 1999, Andrew joined a newly-formed technology company where he spent several years, eventually becoming Technical Director.
In the process, he and a few friends developed a private laser company which eventually employed 70 members of staff. The impact of their endeavours was stunningly spectacular, and the products that they developed are now in use at many of the world’s blue-chip institutes around the world, and include the likes of Lockheed Martin (USA), BAE (UK), ENEA (Italy), NASA (USA) and Dassault (France). The company won many technology awards, attracted significant local and foreign investment, and was eventually purchased outright by the USA enterprise Par Systems Inc.
In 2005 Andrew joined the CSIR (Council for Industrial and Scientific Research) National Laser Centre embark on more research orientated activities. Interestingly, the CSIR was where Michael Thackeray did the bulk of the research and development work which led directly to the development of Lithium-Ion batteries! (Lithium-Ion Batteries — South Africa’s Gift to the World)!
It was here that Andrew started two new research groups — — first the User Facility, a set of laboratories for advancing photonics in South Africa through engagement with local universities, and later in 2007 the Mathematical Optics group.
During this time Andrew pioneered the use of digital holography for the creation and detection of optical modes, resulting in many high-profile journal papers, patents and commercialisation projects.
In 2015 Andrew joined the University of the Witwatersrand on the Distinguished Professor programme and has started a new laboratory that focuses on Structured Light and its applications.
Andrew’s contribution to this particular branch of science, on both a local and a global scale has been immense, and it would be almost impossible to do justice to his entire career to date, so herewith a few highlights — -
Andrew sits on several international conference committees and leadership panels (SPIE, OSA, IEEE), chaired the SPIE international conference on Laser Beam Shaping, served on the Advisory Board for the OSA’s Siegman School on Lasers, Chaired the Editorial Board of the OSA periodical ‘Optics and Photonics News’ and is Editor-in-Chief of the UK’s Journal of Optics, while sitting on three other international journal boards.
Andrew is an elected member of the Academy of Science of South Africa, and founding member of the Photonics Initiative of South Africa.
He also initiated the Quantum Roadmap for South Africa and a is a Fellow of SPIE (Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers), OSA (The Optical Society) and the SAIP (South Africa Institute of Physics).
He is reviewer for all the major physics and optics journals, including Nature and Science, for several national and international funding agencies.
Andrew holds honorary professorship positions at Stellenbosch University (South Africa), Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China (#1 for optics) and Chiba University (Japan).
Andrew has edited and/or contributed to several books, proceedings and patents, published more than 200 scientific journal papers, and together with his students has presented over 500 orals or posters at conferences.
Despite the complexity of his field of expertise, he’s also an active populariser of science through numerous articles in magazines such as Popular Mechanics, plus television shows and radio contributions.
Andrew and his students have won over 100 awards for outstanding contributions to science.
In 2015 Andrew won the national NSTF Photonics award for his contribution to the field over the past decade, and in 2018 he was awarded an “A rating” (top rating possible) from the South African National Research Foundation,
In 2020 won Andrew was awarded the Alexander von Humboldt Georg Forster Prize and Fellowship, which is granted in recognition of a researcher’s entire achievements to date, to academics of all disciplines whose fundamental discoveries, new theories, or insights have had a significant impact on their own discipline and beyond and who are expected to continue developing research-based solutions to the specific challenges facing transition and developing countries.
Andrew is the 2020 winner of the South African Institute of Physics Gold Medal, the highest award in physics in South Africa, making him the youngest winner to date.
Other achievements — -
2013 Developed the world’s first digital laser.
2016 Developed the world’s first spiral light laser.
2016 First to demonstrate optical communication with 100 patterns of twisted light, capable of transmitting far more data.
2017 First scientists in the world to do “quantum teleportation with twisted light” in (transmitting light with enhanced quantum properties).
2019 Developed first “fractal laser”, thereby confirming a 20-year-old prediction.
2020 Set a world record setting for twisted light laser using custom nanomaterials.
2020 World record setting quantum secret sharing, sharing information across 10 nodes on a quantum network.
2020 First in the world to transport quantum-enhanced light down fibre optic cables, providing an example of hybrid technology with the potential to boost information technology.
This particular experiment shattered a quantum world paradigm that conventional fibres were not capable of doing this.
2021 First in the world to create quantum-like light from a laser, reaching 8 dimensions.
