To commemorate our 20th anniversary, the Canon Foundation Invited Lecture was established in 2007. The lecturer is an outstanding person in academia, government or professional organisation and will be invited to deliver a lecture on a theme which is topical and of relevance to the international community. The lecturer will be nominated by the Executive Committee members of the Canon Foundation in Europe.

At the 4th lecture in the Canon Invited Lecture series, Sir Richard Henry Friend gave a lecture on Creative tensions between science and technology on 24 November, 2010 at the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge, UK.

CREATIVE TENSIONS BETWEEN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Many of the big discoveries in science have come about after a breakthrough in technology (Galileo needed lens-making technology before he could construct his telescope). However, current popular perceptions of the scientific method are different – too often science is presented as a series of ‘grand challenges’ where we all know where the important next problem lies. The Large Hadron Collider at CERN is thus presented as the machine to find the Higgs boson. Long-range research is now the preserve of the universities in much of the industrialized world. The relationship between university researchers and the generators of new technology in industrial and commercial organizations is not always valued appropriately, but can provide real value in both directions. Sir Richard will draw on local examples of university- industrial cooperation, drawing attention both to interactions with smaller companies and also larger organizations, such as the Japanese companies that have played a strong role in this.

Professor Sir Richard Friend is the Cavendish Professor at the University of Cambridge where he leads the Optoelectronics Group in the Cavendish Laboratory. He has been involved in the scientific discoveries underlying the emergence of plastic electronics and in its commercial development. Professor Friend has over 600 publications and more than 60 patents. He was knighted for "Services to Physics" in the Queen's Birthday Honours List, 2003.

back to top of page

updated 2 February 2011