Polina Bayvel facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Polina Bayvel
|
|
|---|---|
.jpg)
Bayvel in 2016
|
|
| Born | 14 April 1966 |
| Nationality | British |
| Citizenship | British |
| Education | Hasmonean High School for Girls |
| Alma mater | University College London (BSc, PhD) |
| Children | Two |
| Awards | Clifford Paterson Lecture (2014) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields |
|
| Institutions | Nortel Standard Telephones and Cables University College London |
| Thesis | Stimulated Brillouin scattering in single mode optical fibre ring resonators (1990) |
Polina Bayvel (born 14 April 1966) is a British engineer and professor. She works at University College London as a Professor of Optical Communications & Networks. She is famous for her important work in making optical communications faster and more powerful. Her research helps improve the internet and how we send information around the world.
Contents
Early Life and Schooling
Polina Bayvel was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, in 1966. She grew up there and in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) until 1978. Her father was a physicist, and her mother was an engineer who worked with textiles.
She moved to England and went to Hasmonean High School for Girls. Later, she studied at University College London. She earned her first degree in engineering in 1986. Then, she completed her PhD in 1990. After that, she received a special fellowship from the Royal Society. This allowed her to study fibre optics in Moscow.
Research and Career in Optical Communications
Professor Bayvel's work focuses on making optical fibre communication systems as fast and powerful as possible. These systems use light to send huge amounts of data. She studies how to overcome problems that limit how much information can be sent.
She was one of the first scientists to show how to use different colours of light (wavelengths) to send data. This method helps guide information through optical networks. These new ideas have been used in many real-world systems. They are a key part of the internet and digital communication. Her research helps the internet grow and become even faster.
For example, she is involved in a project called "Initiate." This project tests new ways to make internet connections faster and safer. Her work has received funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
Awards and Special Honours
Polina Bayvel has received many important awards for her work.
- In 2002, she won the Institute of Physics Clifford Paterson Medal and Prize.
- She was also chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2002.
- In 2013, she received an award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for her engineering achievements.
- The University of South Wales gave her an honorary science degree in 2014.
- In 2016, she became a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). This is a very high honour for scientists.
- She was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2017. This award recognized her great contributions to engineering.
- In 2019, she joined the Board of Directors for The Optical Society.
- In 2023, she received the Royal Society Rumford Medal. This medal is for her groundbreaking work in physics and optics. She was the first woman to receive this medal since it started in 1800.
Personal Life
Polina Bayvel has two sons.
