It is with great regret that we are informing you that colleague and friend Ian Bassett passed away on 26 August after a short illness.

Ian’s career in optics was very varied: he joined the theoretical physics department at the University of Sydney in the 1960s, he was one of the founders of the Optical Fibre Technology Centre, he led fibre sensor R&D in the Australian Photonics CRC working with ABB, and later played a key role in the start-up Smart Digital Optics (SDO) which was acquired by an international company.

The last decades of his career were largely devoted to developing a fibre optic current sensor for use in the electricity industry. It started as a PhD project and was ultimately the key product of SDO. For this work he was awarded the AIP’s inaugural Alan Walsh Medal for Service to Industry.

Ian was a gentleman and an outstanding colleague and mentor to many junior colleagues, including us.

Simon Fleming, Martijn de Sterke.

(Dr Ian Bassett was AIP Secretary from 1985-1989)