Professor Robert Thomson FREng Wins Royal Academy of Engineering Award
The Royal Academy of Engineering has announced the winners of The Princess Royal Silver Medal, one of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s most prestigious individual awards. Professor Robert Thomson FREng, Professor of Photonics at Heriot-Watt University, is receiving one of three 2026 awards for inventing the integrated photonic lantern. This lantern is a tool for astronomy capture starlight to look for evidence of exoplanets.
Besides Professor Thomson, this year’s winners of The Princess Royal Silver Medals are:
- Dr Ian Campbell, Co-founder of Breathe Battery Technologies, who has created software that makes batteries more sustainable, and
- Dr Liucheng Guo, Co-founder and Chief Technical Officer of TG0, who has applied AI to make touch-responsive materials.
The three will receive their medals on 8th July at the Academy Awards Dinner in London. The medals will be given by HRH The Princess Royal, who is a Royal Fellow of the Academy.
Professor Thomson said:
“I am delighted to receive the Princess Royal Silver Medal. Throughout my career, I have been motivated by the challenge of translating fundamental discoveries into technologies that create tangible benefits for society. I have also been fortunate to work with outstanding students, researchers, clinicians and industrial partners, and this award reflects their contributions as much as my own.”
Professor Steve McLaughlin, Vice-Principal of Heriot-Watt University, said:
“Robert Thomson’s work in ultrafast laser microfabrication has redefined the art of the possible in photonics. His seminal inventions – the 3D waveguide interconnect and the integrated photonic lantern – are not only academic breakthroughs but transformative for industry.”
