Professor Julian D C Jones - Director
Julian Jones is the Professor
of Engineering Optics and Head of the Department of Physics at Heriot-Watt University, where he has been since
1988. He studied physics at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth and was awarded a first-class B.Sc. honours
degree in 1976. He remained in Aberystwyth to undertake research on excimer lasers, leading to the degree of Ph.D.,
followed by a period of post-doctoral research. In 1982 he joined the Physics Laboratory of the University of Kent
as a lecturer, where he worked on optical fibre sensors.
His current research interests are chiefly in the field of fibre optic systems for beam delivery, sensors and instrumentation. He has particular experience of fibre-optic interferometry, including the techniques of laser velocimetry, vibrometry and speckle interferometry. He has authored over 400 scientific papers, conference publications and patents on these subjects. He is past Editor of the Journal of Measurement Science and Technology, Chairman of the Applied Optics Division of the Institute of Physics, a Member of the Technical Opportunities Panel of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, UK and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Professor Jones is responsible for the direction of the Fibre Optics Group in the Departments of Physics and Mechanical Engineering at Heriot-Watt University. The group is interdisciplinary, and specialises in the application of optical physics and fibre-optic technology for engineering applications. There are three main areas of work: optical fibre interferometric sensors; optical instrumentation; and fibre-optic beam delivery. Research into interferometric sensors concentrates on applications in aerospace research, such as high-speed heat-transfer and temperature sensors for turbomachinery, and strain sensors for measurement in composite materials, but also includes the development of health-monitoring sensors for passive optical networks used in communications. Optical instrumentation projects span remote vibration measurement and acoustic emission detection for condition and structural monitoring, full-field interferometry for vibration modal analysis, defect detection and shape measurement (mainly for automotive engineering), as well as laser velocimetry and particle image velocimetry for aerodynamic and hydrodynamic applications. Projects on beam delivery are mainly for high-power applications, concentrating on laser material processing by both Nd:YAG and CO2 lasers, at average power levels up to kW, and including the development of `intelligent' fibre delivery systems for in-process monitoring and control in applications such as welding, cutting and drilling.
Professor Jones is a founding director of OptoSci Ltd., an SME established in 1994, which is engaged in R&D, manufacture and consultancy in optics and optoelectronics.