Thomas Perry (right) research is in the field of
developing new computer solutions using ultra high-performance FPGA chips as part of of a multi-million pound project and alliance of high-tech organisations, including Scottish Enterprise.

World's Fastest FPGA is (left) SiGe HBT BiCMOS

The project hopes to revolutionise the development of mission-critical applications and help deal with massive processing requirements needed in areas such as drug design, defence, seismology, medical imaging and mobile telecoms.

The Commission's  Fellowship programmes, established in 1891, have greatly benefited recipients of the award in the past, with 12 winners going on to receive Nobel prizes. Only four of these fellowships are awarded annually to students enrolled for EngD degrees.

This is the second consecutive year that the Institute has hosted an EngD Industry Fellowship from the Royal Commission. In 2009, Matthew Robbetts, sponsored by Wolfson Microelectronics and supervised by Dr Stephan Weiss of the University of Strathclyde, was also selected for an award for his research into acoustic noise-cancellation techniques for mobile phone applications.

Presenting the Fellowship to Tom Perry, Nigel Williams, Commission Secretary stated: "The 1851 Royal Commission is delighted to work with EngD Centres to identify top students as candidates for its Industrial Fellowship programme, which shares similar aims to support research excellence for the benefit of productive industry."

"The fellowship will present new opportunities in my work including a generous travel allowance that will allow me to travel to Xilinx Research Laboratories company HQ in San Jose, where my research project is likely to depend heavily on the research conducted there and will help me achieve the very best in my EngD at iSLI. I am delighted," said Thomas Perry.

Fellowships and grants from the Royal Commission are only awarded to research students in science and engineering, applied research in industry, industrial design and other projects supporting the development of science and technology.

The Commission decided to develop an idea to exclusively support students registered for the EngD degree in the UK. The Institute for System Level Integration is the only UK establishment providing the Engineering Doctorate in System Level Integration and is extremely pleased that Thomas, one of their second year research students and a graduate from the University of Cambridge, is the second consecutive iSLI student to be selected for the Fellowship.

Thomas's Fellowship will begin in September for three years, offering an enhanced stipend to the student, as well as extending benefits to the sponsoring organisation, Scottish Enterprise and the University of Edinburgh, where Thomas's academic supervisors Dr Khaled Benkrid and Dr Mark Parsons are based; including an honorarium of £10,000 to the university once the programme is completed.