Sir Eric remained involved in College life into his 90s, regularly attending alumni events, student concerts, and enthusiastically supporting the Ash Music Scholarships with his wife Clare. His lifelong connections with Imperial began when he gained a scholarship to study his electrical engineering BSc and then his PhD, studying under Denis Gabor, the Nobel Prize winning inventor of holography and the flat television tube, who had also fled the Nazis.
He gave so much to Imperial through his steady leadership, mentoring and research. He remained very active at the College, and I loved spending time with him, whether to celebrate the unveiling of the Ernst Chain Blue Plaque, or to honour others at dinners for the Schrodinger lecture , or the National Academy of Engineering β Royal Academy of Engineering Grand Challenges Summit. He and Clare also lit up when they were surrounded by their wonderful Ash Scholars.
Their love of music and our musicians leaves a lasting legacy and meaningful example for philanthropists. Sir Eric made significant contributions in electron optics and pioneered research on surface acoustic waves for signal processing. This technology has important uses in mobile phones, televisions and space-borne communications systems.
His research led to new techniques and improvements in the resolution of acoustic microscopes which use ultrahigh-frequency sound waves to probe the internal features of solid materials for defects.
They are often used to manufacture electronic components. He became Rector at Imperial in He felt this was a way for Imperial to reposition itself, but also as a way to raise the number of women studying at the College which he believed was very necessary. He merged engineering with medicine - without that we would not be creating devices to save lives at Imperial.
