The award recognises a UK engineer who has demonstrated excellence in the early stage of their career. Dr Cole's achievements have focused on carbon nanotubes and their use in field emission sources, which produce high-energy electrons under an electric field.
In addition to his published research, Dr Cole is commended for his wider leadership which has led him to co-found the start up company Cambridge Xray Systems, with funding from Innovate UK. The company develops tailored X-ray emitters using state-of-the-art nanomaterials for use in food security, border control and medical diagnostics. Dr Cole has also attained chartered engineering and scientist status at an exceptionally early stage of his career.
"I am tremendously honoured to receive the Sir George Macfarlane Medal from the Royal Academy of Engineering. This prestigious award represents one of the highest levels of recognition for a young engineer in the UK," Dr Cole said. "As we enter the nano-age, I very much hope this award will inspire other early career engineers and scientists to undertake pragmatic research, particularly towards the commercial realisation of technologies that were impossible to manufacture just a decade or so ago."
Dr Cole joined the University of Cambridge to begin his PhD in Electrical Engineering in 2008, after graduating in the top 10% of his class at the University of Oxford with an MEng in Engineering Sciences. Following completion of his PhD, Dr Cole has continued his postdoctoral studies within the University of Cambridge's Department of Engineering, publishing extensively and becoming recognised as a leading figure within the global field emission community.
Professor Bill Milne FREng, director of the Centre for Advanced Photonics and Electronics, said: "Matthew is a truly outstanding young engineer with almost unlimited potential. His drive and commitment to applied engineering research and higher level engineering education and makes him most deserving of the award of the 2015 Macfarlane prize."
