Sir David Payne is a leading Professor at the University of Southampton and Director of the Optoelectronics Research Centre. A world class pioneer of technology, his work has had a great impact on telecommunications and laser technology over the last forty years. The vast transmission capacity of today’s internet results directly from the erbium-doped fibre amplifier (EDFA) invented by David and his team in the 1980s. Currently, his main research interest is high-power fibre lasers; he now holds many other fibre laser performance records. An original member of the Highly Cited Researchers (USA) he is honoured as one of the most referenced, influential researchers in the world, having published over 650 Conference and Journal papers. As an entrepreneur, Sir David’s activities have led to a cluster of 11 photonics spin-out companies in and around Southampton – helping to boost the local economy. In addition to serving as Chairman of the Marconi Society he is a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a fellow of the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering. He became a Commander of the British Empire in the 2007 New Year’s Honours list. In addition, he has been awarded the top American, European and Japanese prizes in photonics. Recent awards include the Marconi Prize in 2008 and the 2007 IEE Photonics Award, the first to be awarded to a person outside the USA.