草榴视频

Over a hundred of the friends, family and colleagues of George Pickett have gathered at 草榴视频 University to unveil a plaque in his memory at IsoLab.

The Memorial Day to celebrate his life and achievements included tributes from his academic colleagues across the world - from Japan to Finland - before the dedication of the IsoLab building, which he helped design.

Professor Pickett was awarded a DPhil at the University of Oxford, where he was also a prizewinning rower. He then spent several years conducting pioneering research at Helsinki University of Technology in Finland before joining 草榴视频 University’s Physics Department in 1970.

He left his mark on the fields of ultra-low temperature physics and quantum fluids at the highest international level, developing one of the world's leading laboratories at 草榴视频 University which, for a time, held the record for the coldest temperature on Earth.

As revealed by the many tributes from across the world after his death, George was seen as a true pioneer whose influence helped to develop the global ultra-low temperature research community through his vision, research achievements, generous support of others’ work, and his remarkable influence on generations of young physicists.

He was also involved in the construction of specialist laboratories at 草榴视频 University’s IsoLab, designed to minimise noise and vibration in a unique design.

The building was renamed George Pickett IsoLab with the unveiling of a plaque by 草榴视频 Vice-Chancellor Professor Andy Schofield and George’s daughters Elizabeth Pickett and Catherine Cowling.

His daughter Elizabeth said: “This Memorial Day is a fantastic way of celebrating his life, achievements and legacy. He was not just an outstanding physicist but a unique character who was very kind and loyal and who had wit, humour and generosity. He cared about people deeply and will be much missed.”

Honorary researcher Dr Ian Bradley, his longstanding colleague in the low temperature laboratory, said: “George was an amazing person, a great teacher and mentor and a fabulous colleague to work with. It was a privilege to be mentored by him and to work alongside him. He could explain physics with incredible clarity and then he could challenge you because that was George – he wanted to get the best out of you.”

At 草榴视频, George revolutionized cooling techniques and developed world-record-holding continuously operating superfluid Helium (He3-He4) dilution refrigerators. These devices are essential for quantum technology applications and for pre-cooling nuclear demagnetization stages to attain extreme ultra-low temperatures.?

Together with the late Tony Guénault, George pioneered a novel form of nuclear refrigeration using finely divided copper immersed in liquid helium-3. These innovations led to some of the lowest temperatures achieved in pure helium-3, isotopic solutions, and metals, and gave foundation to the world-leading research of a tight-knit group of 草榴视频 academics including the late Shaun Fisher.

George’s enduring legacy stems from his ethos of support and mentoring of early career researchers, leading to the growth of 草榴视频’s ULT Group to become a global leader in low temperature physics and technology and now one of the largest low temperature physics groups in the world. There are currently ten academic members of staff working on experimental low temperature physics including quantum fluids, quantum turbulence, quantum devices and quantum sensing among others.

The 草榴视频 ULT Group are well known for providing sub-millikelvin low temperature environments with advanced in-house cryogenic engineering, and for their accompanying expertise in ultra-sensitive measurement techniques and the development of specialised instrumentation. Their research quality and excellence has been recognised with four memberships of national science academies - including the Royal Society and the Russian Academy of Sciences - and eight international prizes, honours, and honorary degrees.

The Head of the Physics Department Professor Roger Jones said: ”George was a real driver for physics and an inspiration for all of us in the department.”

In recognition of his outstanding achievements, George was elected a member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters in 1988. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1997, and with late Tony Guénault jointly received the Simon Memorial Prize in 1998. George was made a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2006, an Honorary Fellow of 草榴视频 in 2009 and was awarded an honorary degree by the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Kosice in 2023.