Previous Fora / 2003
Speakers
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Sir Alec Broers |
| Vice-Chancellor University of Cambridge United Kingdom |
I had essentially turned my hobby into my career
1996- Vice Chancellor of the University of Cambridge
1992-1995 Head of Department of Electrical Engineering
Sir Alec Broers began his career at Cambridge in King's College chapel where he sang his way into a choral scholarship at Gonville and Caius in 1960. He had already taken a first degree in Physics at Melbourne University in Australia, followed by a further year of studying electronics. Despite already having two first degrees from Melbourne, Sir Broers was advised to enroll as an undergraduate before undertaking a PhD, which turned out to be "one of the best moves I ever made".
Having graduated with his BA in 1962, he started the serious business of his PhD, working first with Professor Oatley researching scanning electron microscopes, and later with Dr. William C. Nixon. Sir Broers' research concentrated on using microscopes as a tool to scribe things. This pioneering work in nanotechnology has led to the production of the now familiar miniature electronic circuits, which are now commonly utilized.
Sir Broers then moved to the IBM research laboratories in New York, where he spent the next 16 years researching in one of the best 'playhouses for electronics' in the world, building microscopes and equipment for the fabrication of miniature components. In 1977, Sir Broers was given the position of being an IBM fellow, an honor accorded to only around 40 out of the 40, 000 staff.
In 1984, Sir Broers was tempted back to Cambridge to take the position of Chair of Electrical Engineering, and then, in 1996, he was appointed Vice Chancellor to the University, becoming the first engineer to hold the post.
Excerpt from Sir Alec's detailed curriculum vitae