Heriot-Watt researcher nets £1m in bid to scale up next-gen optical fibre tech

A researcher at Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University has secured almost £1 million to scale-up the manufacturing of a new type of optic fibre cable that could in time replace conventional telecoms networks around the world.

Dr Calum Ross is a research associate in Heriot-Watt’s school of engineering and physical sciences.

Research associate Calum Ross has been awarded funding of £970,000 through the Future Leaders Fellowships (FLF) programme of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) - the national funding agency for investing in science and research. Ross, who works within the university’s school of engineering and physical sciences, has spent two years developing an automated process that would allow the mass production of hollow-core fibre - a type of optical fibre that carries light in air about 50 per cent faster than conventional solid glass fibre. He believes the system he is developing could supersede the conventional method of making optic fibre, and that hollow-core fibre could eventually replace existing telecoms networks.

Ross said: “Hollow-core fibre is currently made using a manual process that involves stacking fibre systems by hand - so it can’t be manufactured at scale. I’ve developed a laser-based fabrication approach that is automated and allows me to make a fibre that can be mass manufactured and can also have any internal structure.”

The funding boost will allow Ross to recruit a professional researcher and a team of PhD students. Over the four-year project, the team will aim to develop their manufacturing process and establish a group of researchers who are pioneering the field of freeform fibre optics. The FLF scheme also has an optional three-year extension. Industry partners in the project include telecoms giant BT and laser company Chromacity, a spin-out from Heriot-Watt University in 2013. Recent industry developments include Microsoft buying a hollow core fibre company in 2022 that was a spin-out from the University of Southampton and was valued at some £20m.

Since 2018, UKRI has awarded almost 500 fellowships under its scheme. In this latest seventh round of the programme, 75 researchers at different universities and organisations are being awarded Future Leaders Fellowship awards worth £101m. UKRI has also confirmed another two further upcoming rounds of more than £100m each, with deadlines expected in summer 2024 and 2025.

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