Aug 14 2007
Dr E. Neil Lewis, Chief Technology Officer for materials characterization company Malvern® Instruments, has been honoured by the University of Glamorgan in Wales with the award of an Honorary Doctorate of Science for his contribution to science and innovation. Now resident in the US, Neil Lewis obtained his basic training and science education at the University of Glamorgan more than 20 years ago. He was described at the ceremony as being “one of our most outstanding ambassadors in the world of science”.
Offering his congratulations, Paul Walker Managing Director of Malvern Instruments said: “The award of an Honorary Doctorate of Science is one of the most prestigious accolades that can be bestowed by a UK university. I know that I speak for the entire team at Malvern Instruments in congratulating Neil on gaining such tremendous recognition. We are extremely fortunate to have a great many high calibre scientists in the Malvern team and are delighted to see such public recognition of individual achievement.”
Following his graduation from the then Polytechnic of Wales in 1980, Neil Lewis went on to complete a PhD in the field of molecular spectroscopy. A series of posts at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda Maryland, US followed, culminating in that of Senior Biophysical Researcher. His activities involved the development of novel methods for chemical imaging of biological, medical and pharmaceutical materials, including groundbreaking work in the development of spectroscopic imaging microscopy. This utilised ideas from remote sensing, and also detector technology originally developed for military purposes by the US Government for night vision and missile guidance.
In 1998 Neil Lewis founded Spectral Dimensions Inc. which became the world leader in the manufacture of instrumentation and software for chemical imaging. In 2006 the company was acquired by Malvern Instruments and Neil joined the management team. Now as CTO he leads all of Malvern’s innovation and new product development initiatives.