Patrick (Paddy) Heighway has secured a new position as a 5-year OxCHEDS Early-Career Fellow.
The Atomic and Laser Physics Subdepartment and AWE have interacted for many years through the Oxford Centre for High Energy Density Science (OxCHEDS). The new form of AWE Fellowship will build on and enhance this relationship by encouraging collaboration in the common research area of material behaviour under extreme dynamic compression.
Paddy said “I am thrilled to have been offered this fellowship. It has been a little over ten years since I was introduced to dynamic-compression science, and the field has come a very long way in that time. Yet, I many respects, it also feels like we are only just getting started: innovations in XFEL-based diagnostics, laser-drive technology, and atomistic modelling are opening up an almost overwhelming array of new research opportunities, and, to my mind, there is no better time to be a dynamic-compression scientist. I am particularly excited to be starting this journey in the stimulating and collaborative environment that OxCHEDS provides.”
Professor Justin Wark, Director of OxCHEDS, said following the appointment: “We are delighted that Paddy has been awarded this Fellowship. Over the past few years, he has emerged as one of the main internationally leading young scientists in this burgeoning field, and this Fellowship, generously funded by AWE, provides him with the opportunities to develop an independent research programme within the highly successful, ongoing AWE-OxCHEDS collaborative environment”.
Colin Danson, Co-Director of OxCHEDS said “Congratulations to Paddy. His appointment helps secure the future of OxCHEDS, which has become an important vehicle for collaboration both for AWE and Oxford. We look forward to working even more closely with Paddy in the future”.