SEMS Academic Elevated to Fellow of the IEEE
Professor Steve Beeby, Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technology and ECS Impact Champion, has been recently elevated to a Fellow by IEEE, the world's largest technical professional organization for the advancement of technology for his significant contribution in the areas of energy harvesting and its application in e-textiles. Prof. Beeby?s recognition by IEEE, the world?s largest technical professional organization for the advancement of technology as an IEEE Fellow, is a distinction reserved for select IEEE members whose extraordinary accomplishments in any of the IEEE fields of interest, are deemed fitting of this prestigious grade elevation.
"I am delighted to have been elevated to a Fellow of the IEEE. This recognises the impact of the research carried out in ECS over many years in the areas of energy harvesting and electronic textiles and this achievement would not have been possible without the contributions of my exceptional research team and colleagues within the School."
Electronic textiles (also known as e-textiles or smart fabrics) refer to the use of electronics in textile products to add sensing, signal processing or visual effects. The components and materials are specially designed or packaged to enable integration within textiles and clothes turning otherwise everyday fabrics into autonomous electronic systems able to sense and respond to their surroundings.
An increased use in this type of e-textile products has led to the need to find ways to keep these devices continuously powered without the need for frequent recharging or carrying bulky batteries. One approach is energy harvesting (also known as power harvesting) which is a process where electrical energy is derived from external sources such as incident light, physical motion or temperature gradients. This electrical energy can be stored in textile batteries also being developed and used to power small wearable devices, like those used in e-textiles.
For his leading role in energy harvesting and its application in e-textiles research as well as for his support to the research community, Prof. Beeby has also been recognised through the award of a highly prestigious RAEng Chair in Emerging Technologies which will support his research until 2030.
Professor Michael Butler, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, commented "I?m delighted that Steve has been elevated to an IEEE Fellow. This is a prestigious international award and is a well-deserved recognition of Steve?s world-leading and high-impact research on energy harvesting and e-textiles."
Prof. Beeby's connection with the University of Southampton finds its roots back in 1998, when he obtained his PhD. Since then, he has been awarded two EPSRC Research Fellowships to investigate the combination of screen-printed active materials with micromachined structures and textiles for energy harvesting.
Following the first Fellowship, he became a lecturer in ECS, was appointed a Reader in 2008 and was awarded a personal Chair in 2011. He also leads the UK?s E-Textiles Network and is Chair of the International Steering Committee for the Power MEMS conference series.
Prof. Beeby is currently Principal Investigator (PI)/ Southampton lead on 4 UK/EU funded research projects, Co-Investigator on 3 other projects and he has secured over £14M in research funding as PI or Southampton lead.
He has co-authored/edited five books and has published over 160 journal papers/letters, 1210 refereed conference papers, 4 patents and given 32 plenaries, keynote or invited talks. He has an h-Index of 56 with >18800 citations.
Finally, he is a co-founder of Perpetuum Ltd, a University spin-out based upon vibration energy harvesting formed in 2004 and Smart Fabric Inks Ltd.