Walter Thompson Welford

Walter Thompson Welford (31 August 1916 – 18 September 1990) was a British physicist with expertise in optics.

Biography Welford attended Hackney Technical College, leaving at 16 to work as a technician at the London Hospital and then Oxford University Biochemistry Department. He studied mathematics privately and in 1942 obtained a first-class external degree from the University of London. After working for a time at the optical instrument manufacturer Adam Hilger Ltd., he came to Imperial College London in 1947 as a research assistant. He was appointed lecturer in 1951 and after successive promotions became a full professor of physics in 1973, retiring in 1983. He continued to be scientifically active at Imperial College and the University of Chicago until his death in 1990.

Honours and awards Welford was awarded the Institute of Physics Young Medal in 1974. He was elected to the Royal Society in 1980. He also won awards for his work in Microlithography and the ultraviolet: experiments with an excimer laser.

Patents

He held a patent for work in cutting by laser. This laid the ground for laser eye surgery. Walter Welford's pioneering and often cited work in Solar Energy, revolving around the optics of CPCs was the work that got him elected to the Royal Society, though others hold all the patents related to Solar Energy.

Other fields of expertise

Sub particle physics and the co-invention of the bubble chamber. Solar energy, and CPCs. Camera lens, one of his students worked with Walter on the invention of zoom camera lenses. Telescopes, Welford created some of the earliest shots of Jupiter from a lens he designed. Holograms Double glazing. Pilkington hired Welford to create Double glazing. Welford didn't own the patents.

There are several documents online such as the Optical legacy of Imperial College London, which cite the inventiveness of Welford and the department.