Stephen William Wilkins (February 15, 1946 - March 25, 2013) was an Australian

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

known for his contributions to the field of

Phase-contrast X-ray imaging Phase-contrast X-ray imaging or phase-sensitive X-ray imaging is a general term for different technical methods that use information concerning changes in the phase of an X-ray beam that passes through an object in order to create its images. Sta ...

Biography

Wilkins' parents were originally from

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

, Czechoslovakia, but emigrated and came to Australia in 1939. Wilkins attended Preshil, The Margaret Lyttle Memorial School in Kew. Wilkins grew up in Melbourne and studied for a BSc in physics and mathematics between 1964 and 1967 at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

. He got his PhD in 1972 at the same university with a thesis titled "Correlations and Interactions in Binary Alloys". In 1975, he became a research scientist at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). He advanced to eventually become Chief Research Scientist in 1998. Wilkins unexpectedly died from a heart attack on March 25, 2013.

Research

Wilkins is perhaps best known for his work on phase-contrast X-ray imaging (PCXI). His article on PCXI with laboratory, i.e. polychromatic, sources was published in Nature in 1996 and it is the most cited article in the X-ray phase-contrast research field with over 2000 citations. Wilkins had an instrumental role in the conception and launch of the BigDiff beamline, BL20B, at the Photon Factory in Japan. The work to realize this beamline began in 1985 and the first experiments were conducted in 1992. This X-ray scattering beamline was primarily used for X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). The beamline was decommissioned on February 25, 2013.

Awards

* 1997 -

Walter Boas Medal The Walter Boas Medal is awarded by the Australian Institute of Physics The Australian Institute of Physics was established in 1963, when it replaced the Australian Branch of the British Institute of Physics based in London.Australian Institute of Physics The Australian Institute of Physics was established in 1963, when it replaced the Australian Branch of the British Institute of Physics based in London.

. Shared with Keith Nugent. * 2003 - Honorary Professor, Department of Physics,

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkins, Stephen 1946 births 2013 deaths Australian physicists University of Melbourne alumni Scientists from Melbourne CSIRO people