Our history - 1990s :: University of Southampton

1990

Professor Martin Gardner's study, which linked Sellafield to childhood leukaemia, identified 'a raised risk associated with fathers working at Sellafield and, in particular, among those with the highest exposures to external ionising radiation before their children's conception', and received high profile treatment in the national press.

Dr (now Professor) David Payne was awarded the Tyndall Award for his 'outstanding contribution to the design, measurement and fabrication of optical fibres, sensors and fibre devices'. He was the first Briton to win the award.

A group of five students, four from Civil Engineering and one from Institute of Sound and Engineering, won first prize in the competition for the British Aerospace Engineering Design Prize. Their winning project was a new spectator stand for Southampton Football Club!

In an assessment by the US Institute for Scientific Information, which was published in Science Watch, the University of Southampton was rated sixth in the world for basic electronic engineering research. The first five places were all held by prestigious US institutions.

Former students Roger Black and Kriss Akabusi were victorious at the 1992 Olympics, when they ran in the British 4 x 400m squad.

University researchers developed a special electronic 'smart pebble' to help with their study of the natural pattern of shingle and gravel movements as part of their research into coastal erosion.
Three students won first prize in the Design Council/British Aerospace Engineering Design Competition. Their entry was a three-metre high test rig, 'Flexible Orthogonal Rig for Testing Real Ship and Boat Structures', or FORTRESS for short.
The Department of Nutrition embarked on research, funded by Kelloggs, looking at the importance of breakfast for children. The New Reporter headline, 'Breakfast skipping may leave children flaked out', was a possible candidate for the worst headline of the year.
Professors Alec Gambling and David Payne were awarded the 1993 Computers and Communications Prize from the Foundation for Computers and Communications Promotion in Japan 'for pioneering contributions and leadership in the research and development of optical fibre communications resulting in the invention of the erbium-doped optical fibre amplifier'.

Scientists in the Department of Electrical Engineering patented a method of adding a unique electrical charge into the atomic structure of a plastic, allowing it to be easily identified and to facilitate recycling.

Professor David Barker was awarded the Royal Society Welcome Foundation Prize for 1994 in recognition of his contribution to the understanding of a number of major diseases of later life (cardiovascular disease, obstructive airways disease and diabetes).

In the Research Assessment results announced at the end of the year, the University strengthened its position among the country's leading research universities. No less than 19 subjects achieved a 5 or 5* grading - the top awards in the assessment.

The MRC Epidemiology Unit cast its net ever wider in pursuing research on the relationship between the experience of the foetus and the incidence of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and eye conditions in later life.

BTG plc, a world leader in the commercialisation of novel technologies, acquired the patents related to the erbium-doped fibre optic amplifier. Developed in the Opto-Electronic Research Centre, the amplifier made it possible to send signals for longer distances down optical fibres using only optical components and removing the need for electronic repeaters.

It promised to revolutionise and dramatically reduce the cost of installing electronic communications networks.

On 21 April 1997 New Reporter featured news that Winchester School of Art fashion student Sabine Brauninger had won a prize of £1000 from the magazine Auto Trader. Sabine had designed new promotional clothes for the British Touring Car Championship at Thruxton.

The University's Sustainable Energy Research Group collaborated with Sainsburys, the supermarket retailer, to produce the world's first solar-powered refrigerated lorry. The lorry had solar panels on its roof to power its refrigeration system and was used to transport fresh fruit and vegetables.

Five Southampton graduates won seats in the 1997 general election, four of them were part of the 'Labour landslide'.