Glittering prizes

The Royal Academy of Engineering has awarded its first postdoctoral research fellowships to: James Hall, 31, lecturer in the department of civil engineering, University of Bristol, to carry out research on handling uncertainty in coastal engineering systems; Mortaza Sahibzada, 30, lecturer in the department of chemical engineering, University of Edinburgh, for research into combined chemical production and power generation; Ambrose Taylor, 28, researcher in the department of mechanical engineering, Imperial College, for research on novel polymer-

silicate nanocomposites; and Vicente Zarzoso, 26, researcher in the department of electrical engineering and electronics, University of Liverpool, for research on blind signal separation for communications.

The Institute of Physics' Public Awareness of Physics Awards 1999 go to: Peter Barham, HH Wills physics department, University of Bristol, for lecture demonstrations on the physics of food; Alison Wright, EP Division, Cern, Geneva, for contributions to the public awareness of physics activities at Cern; Steve Mesure, Floating Point Theatre, for promoting and teaching physics in an inspiring way to young people and the public; Mark Warner, department of physics, Cavendish Laboratory, and Hugh Hunt, department of engineering, Cambridge, for a public lecture presented as part of the national SET week earlier this year.

Oxford Brookes University is to award honorary degrees to: chef Raymond Blanc, owner of Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons; Diana Lamplugh, director of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust; Gail Rebuck, chairman and chief executive of the Random House Group; Roger Jowell, founder and director of the National Centre for Social Research; Heinz Wolff, professor emeritus of bioengineering at Brunel University; Toby Blackwell, former chairman and director of booksellers Blackwell; Barbara Stocking, regional director of the southeast National Health Service executive; Paul Webster, correspondent for The Guardian; Hugo Brunner, lord lieutenant of Oxfordshire; Michael O'Regan, founder of RM plc; and David Potter, founder and chairman of microcomputer systems company Psion. Mr Potter also receives an honorary degree as part of the British Association's annual festival of science, along with Sir Richard Sykes, president of the BA and chair of Glaxo-Wellcome, and George Radda, chief executive of the Medical Research Council.