Ursula "Uschi" Steigenberger (25 April 1951 — 12 December 2018) OBE FInstP was a German condensed matter physicist and director of the ISIS neutron source. She was one of the founders of the Institute of Physics Juno Award.
Uschi Steigenberger | |
|---|---|
 fair use only | |
| Born | Ursula Steigenberger 25 April 1951 |
| Died | 12 December 2018 |
| Alma mater | University of Würzburg |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Condensed matter physics |
| Institutions | ISIS neutron source Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Institut Laue–Langevin Lebedev Physical Institute |
Education
editSteigenberger was born in Augsburg. She studied physics at the University of Würzburg, where she remained for her graduate studies. She earned a PhD in condensed matter physics under the supervision of Michael von Ortenburg. For her doctoral thesis she designed a stress rig, which allowed her to apply uniaxial pressure to single crystals of tellurium.[1] After earning her PhD in 1981, Steigenberger worked in various magnet labs, including the CNRS Grenoble High Field Magnet Facility in Grenoble and Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow.[citation needed]
Career and research
editSteigenberger joined the Institut Laue–Langevin in 1982.[2] She worked on the PRogetto dell'Istituto di Strutura della MAteria del CNR (PRISMA) spectrometer with collaborators in Italy, and continued to work with them on the motion of molecules.[3][4] She worked on cadmium telluride that had been alloyed with magnesium.[5] Here she met British physicist Keith McEwen, whom she married in 1986 before the couple moved to the United Kingdom.[6]
Steigenberger joined the ISIS neutron source in 1986.[7] She was initially responsible for the PRISMA spectrometer, leading a collaboration between the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Italian Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche.[8] PRISMA was used for inelastic neutron scattering from single crystals.[8] It can measure the change in scattering during the application of temperature, pressure or magnetic fields.[8] Steigenberger was made one of the ISIS Excitations Group leaders, becoming the first woman Division Head in 1994. She attended the Oxford School on Neutron Scattering in 1991.[9] In 1996 Steigenberger coordinated a workshop on pulsed neutron experiments.[10] She served as director at the ISIS neutron source from 2011 to 2012.[7][11] She worked with scientists from Norway to create Larmor, a high-intensity small-angle scattering instrument that uses a beam of polarised neutrons to study the movement of atoms in a material.[12] Steigenberger served as Chair of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin.[7] She retired from the ISIS neutron source in 2013.[13] Her work was recognised by scientists all over the world, developing important partnerships with Japan and Italy.[14]
Awards and honours
editSteigenberger was shortlisted for a WISE Campaign Lifetime Achievement Award.[15] She was a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, and part of their review of women in the physics workplace that led to the Juno award scheme as well as being a member of their Science Board.[16][17] In the 2016 New Year Honours she was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to science, which she collected in 2017.[2][18] This OBE was honorary as Steigenberger kept her German citizenship whilst working in the UK.[16][18]
Death
editSteigenberger was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January 2017, and died on 12 December 2018.[17][19]
References
edit- ^ "Captcha". www.osapublishing.org. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
- ^ a b "ISIS Uschi Steigenberger receives OBE". isis.stfc.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
- ^ "INFN - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare". lnl.infn.it. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
- ^ "Top female scientist honoured for a lifetime in physics". gov.uk. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
- ^ Steigenberger, Ursula; Lebech, Bente; Galazka, Robert R. (1986). "Neutron scattering studies of a dilute magnetic semiconductor: Cd1-xMnxTe". Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials. 54–57: 1285–1286. Bibcode:1986JMMM...54.1285S. doi:10.1016/0304-8853(86)90820-6. ISSN 0304-8853.
- ^ "ISIS A year around ISIS". www.isis.stfc.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
- ^ a b c "Uschi Steigenberger receives prestigious British medal for her service to the sciences". helmholtz-berlin.de. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
- ^ a b c Steigenberger, U.; Hagen, M.; Caciuffo, R.; Petrillo, C.; Cilloco, F.; Sacchetti, F. (1991). "The development of the PRISMA spectrometer at ISIS". Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms. 53 (1): 87–96. Bibcode:1991NIMPB..53...87S. doi:10.1016/0168-583X(91)95449-N. ISSN 0168-583X.
- ^ "History of the Oxford School on Neutron Scattering". oxfordneutronschool.org. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
- ^ Steigenberger, Uschi; McEwen, Keith (1997). "Pulsed magnetic fields and pulsed neutron sources". Neutron News. 8 (1): 2–3. doi:10.1080/10448639708231951. ISSN 1044-8632.
- ^ "UK physics hit by new cuts". Physics World. 2009-06-25. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
- ^ "UK-Netherlands collaboration will build state-of-the-art neutron super-microscope". phys.org. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
- ^ "ISIS OBE for Uschi Steigenberger". isis.stfc.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
- ^ "ISIS ISIS mourns the death of Dr Uschi Steigenberger OBE, former Director and friend". www.isis.stfc.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
- ^ "WISE Lifetime Achievement Award" (PDF). Retrieved 2018-12-14.
- ^ a b "IOP members are recognised in New Year Honours". iop.org. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
- ^ a b McNair, Rosslyn. "Remembering Uschi Steigenberger". The Institute of Physics blog. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
- ^ a b Valzey, Ed (2017). "Ed Vaizey steps in to secure the award of an OBE". vaizey.com. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
- ^ Anon (2018). "STFC mourns the death of leading physicist Dr Uschi Steigenberger OBE - Science and Technology Facilities Council". stfc.ukri.org. Swindon: United Kingdom Research and Innovation.