AILU Awards
AILU presents prestigious and highly valued awards every other year at the Industrial Laser Applications Symposium (ILAS). The awards are given to individuals who have gone through the nomination and selection procedure.
At ILAS 2025 the following awards were presented.
AILU Fellowship Award
This award recognises an individual who has made an outstanding lifetime contribution to the industrial use of lasers in the UK.
The award was introduced in 2021 to replace the AILU Award. The recipient of the Fellowship Award receives AILU Life Membership. One new Fellow is awarded at each Industrial Laser Applications Symposium (ILAS) which takes place every other year. Previous AILU Award winners automatically become AILU Fellows.
2025 AILU Fellowship Award Winner
Bill O’Neill, University of Cambridge
Bill O’Neill graduated in Applied Physics in 1985, and was awarded PhD from Imperial College in 1990. He worked with Bill Stein as a researcher at Liverpool University in the 1990s before joining the Institute for Manufacturing (IfM) at Cambridge University in 2003. Focused on ultra precision manufacturing and working in many other fields of laser/matter interaction including laser based additive manufacturing, he holds multiple patents and has published over 170 research publications.
AILU Innovation Award
This is presented to an individual and/or team (from academia or from industry) that has developed a new method, application, device or product that has enabled a significant advance in laser or applications technology. This award was introduced at ILAS 2021.
2025 AILU Innovation Award Winners
Individual Award: Alex Griffiths, PowerPhotonic
Alex Griffiths has driven the innovation of a new beam shaping optic, the Tailshaper, to achieve improved results in weld pool stability. Stability of the weld is improved as well as strength – and spatter is reduced. The Award is in recognition of this innovative tool for enhancing the welding performance of EV batteries.
Team Award: Cranfield University
The team innovation award for 2025 recognises a breakthrough in the application of laser Additive Manufacturing in a remote environment – namely, on board the International Space Station. The project is the result of a 6 year programme of development of innovative technology and specialised hardware. In conjunction with an international consortium, the team successfully delivered a world first. The award was accepted by Wojciech Suder, on behalf of Cranfield University
AILU Rising Star Award
This award is designed to help encourage people in the early stages of their career to develop their interests in laser technology and applications. The award is presented to an individual for a significant piece of work, which has led to real or potential economic gain for the parent organisation and that preferably has wider benefit for the industrial laser use community.
2025 AILU Rising Star Award Winner
Priyanka Ghosh, MTC
Priyanka Ghosh has delivered research in Artificial Intelligence to improve process optimisation, and served as Technical Lead in a project to achieve spatter reduction in the laser drilling application. She has also been a mentor for junior engineers and was recently appointed as Chair of the Early Careers Group. She has taken part in STEM outreach and promoted Women in Engineering as well as a list of other notable achievements too numerous to mention.
AILU Laser Transition Award
A new award for 2025, the AILU Laser Transition Award is bestowed to an individual, team, or organisation that has successfully navigated the transition from traditional manufacturing techniques to laser material processing. This award celebrates practical achievements in adopting laser-based methods to improve efficiency, quality, or sustainability in production processes.
2025 AILU Laser Transition Award Winner
Metrol Limited, Aberdeen
Metrol has replaced a mechanical seal in a pressure housing used underwater in the oil industry with an in-situ laser welded solution which provides a permanent seal, a simplified joint, consistent quality and high automation to reduce the potential for human error. The Award was accepted by Andrew Moig of Metrol.
Past Awards
AILU Fellowship Award (previously the AILU Award)
2021 – Professor Lin Li, University of Manchester
2023 – Neil Main, Micrometric
AILU Innovation Award (Team)
2021 – SPI Lasers (now TRUMPF Lasers UK)
2023 – Civan Lasers
AILU Innovation Award (Individual)
2023 – Ben Mills (University of Southampton)
AILU Rising Star Award
2023 – Adam Birtwell, Graham Engineering
The AILU Young UK Laser Engineer’s Prize
The AILU Ambassador Award.
2019 – John Marshall MBE, inventor and holder of the grandfather patent on the use of excimer lasers for refractive corrective eye surgery, as well as the use of diode lasers for treating age-related effects of diabetes and glaucoma.