Alf Adams

Early life and education Adams was born to a non-academic family. His grandmother had died from tuberculosis and his father was born with TB thus being excused from school on medical grounds, before working as cobbler, boxer and gym owner. Adams' mother left school at the age of 12. Adams was evacuated from Hadleigh, Essex during The Blitz in World War II. After taking his eleven-plus exam he attended the local technical school where he represented Southeast Essex at both football and cricket.

Career Back in Britain at the University of Surrey he conducted microwave research using Gallium arsenide crystals under high pressure. In 1980 he took a sabbatical to work on semiconductor lasers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan.

Since retirement from the University of Surrey he holds the position of emeritus professor.

In 2014 he was awarded the for his pioneering work on strained-layer laser structures.

In March 2014 he was the subject of the BBC Radio 4 programme, Professor Jim Al-Khalili's The Life Scientific