Rate My Professor Kevin MacDonald

Professor Kevin MacDonald holds the position of Professor of Photonics in the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the University of Southampton, within the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences. He obtained his MPhys and PhD degrees from the University's School of Physics and Astronomy. Beginning his career at Southampton as a researcher in the School of Physics and Astronomy in 2001, he joined the ORC in 2006 and has since progressed to his current role. As a member of the ORC Management Board, he leads the centre's contributions to the United Kingdom's Research Excellence Framework 2029 research assessment exercise. In 2023, Professor MacDonald was elected a Fellow of Optica. He co-chairs the Metamaterials conference series at SPIE Photonics Europe and serves on the Editorial Board of Scientific Reports.

Professor MacDonald's research specializations encompass nanophotonic metrology, the physics and technology of nano-mechanical metamaterials and time crystals, and electron-beam nanophotonics. He has co-led several high-profile research projects, including the Advanced Metrology Hub for Sustainable Manufacturing, Intelligent Nanofabrication for Nanophotonic Devices, Next Generation Optical Metrology Driven by Nanophotonics funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), and the 3D Nanoscale Metamaterials Hub for a Sustainable Future. His involvement in EPSRC-funded programmes exceeds £30 million in total value. With approximately 400 peer-reviewed journal and conference publications to his name, notable works include "Picophotonic localization metrology beyond thermal fluctuations" (Nature Materials, 2023, co-authored with T. Liu et al.), "Photonic metamaterial analogue of a continuous time crystal" (Nature Physics, 2023), "Continuous space-time crystal state driven by nonreciprocal optical forces" (Physical Review Letters, 2024), "Reconfigurable ultraviolet and high-energy-visible dielectric metamaterials" (Nano Letters, 2019), and "Controlling light with light using coherent metadevices: all-optical transistor, summator and invertor" (Light: Science & Applications, 2015). He has delivered invited public lectures, including at the University of Oxford Photonics Day 2026 on "Controlling Fisher Information Flow in Optical Metrology." His contributions have significantly influenced advancements in picophotonics, optical metrology, and sustainable nanophotonic technologies.