Professor Keith Bowen

His main fields of research were materials science, X-ray science & technology, nanotechnology and instrumentation. He has held a number of other academic positions, including visiting professorships at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Paris and the University of Denver.

Using conventional X-ray sources, Professor Bowen initiated the commercial production of precision instruments for probing surfaces together with Prof. Brian Tanner of Durham University. For many years he was Engineering Director of Bede plc and until 2005 the Group Director of Technology of Bede plc (now part of Bruker Corporation).  In the 1970s, he was actively involved in setting up the X-ray Topography Station at the Daresbury Laboratory Synchrotron Radiation Source and he also developed a method of using X-ray interferometry to calibrate transducers to a precision of 10 picometres.

Professor Bowen currently offers his services with occasional consultancy work in the fields of his expertise, and also serves on various committees of the Royal Society. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1997 and a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1998.

He is a keen musician and plays the clarinet. He is currently undertaking research at the Royal College of Music into the acoustics of early bass clarinets.