Tong Sun (born 1968) is a Professor of Sensor Engineering and Director of the Research Centre for Photonics and Instrumentation at

City, University of London City, University of London was a public university from 1966 to 2024 in London, England. It merged with St George's, University of London to form City St George's, University of London in August 2024. The names "City, University of London" an ...

. She was awarded the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senio ...

Silver Medal in 2016 and awarded an

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

2018 Birthday Honours The 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by ci ...

. In 2020 she was elected Fellow of the

Early life and education

Sun was born in Southern China. By the time she attended primary school, the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

had finished and the educational system had been restored. Sun studied engineering at the

Harbin Institute of Technology The Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) is a public science and engineering university in Nan'gang, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China. It is one of the top universities in China and now affiliated with the Ministry of Industry and Information Techn ...

. Here she worked in the Department of Precision Instrumentation, where she earned a master's degree in 1993 and doctorate in 1998. On her holidays from university, Sun's commute back to her parents' house would last 34 hours. She moved to

for a second doctorate, during which she researched optical fibres, and graduated in 1999.

Research and career

After earning her doctorate Sun joined

Nanyang Technological University Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is a public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1981, it is also the second oldest autonomous university in the country. The university is organised across numerous colleges and schools, includi ...

where she worked as an Assistant Professor until 2001. She moved back to

in 2001. When she was promoted to Professor in 2008 she became the first woman to be promoted to Professor of engineering at City. She also serves as Director of the Research Centre for Photonics and Instrumentation. Her research involves the development of optical fibre sensors to monitor sensitive equipment in extreme environments. Her research has contributed to several different technologies, including drug detection, corrosion monitoring and combating food spoilage. She has worked with the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

and

Smiths Group Smiths Group plc is a British, Multinational corporation, multinational, diversified engineering business headquartered in London, England. It operates in over 50 countries and employs 15,000 staff. Smiths Group is listed on the London Stock Ex ...

. In 2007 Sun co-founded Sengenia Ltd, a fibre sensing spin-out. She has developed humidity sensors that can withstand challenging environments such as acidic sewers in Sydney and rice stores in China. Sun continues to work with researchers at the Shandong Academy of Sciences on the implementation of optical fibres in the mining industry . In 2017 Sun was awarded the Australian Water Safety Council

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Water Award to trial her sensors in

Sydney Water Sydney Water, formally, Sydney Water Corporation, is a Government of New South WalesState-owned corporation, owned statutory authority, statutory corporation that provides potable drinking water, wastewater and some stormwater services to Sydney ...

. She is working with

AECOM AECOM (, ; formerly AECOM Technology Corporation; stylised A''Ξ''COM) is an American multinational infrastructure consulting firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The company's official name from 1990–2015 was AECOM Technology Corporation, ...

and

Indian Institutes of Technology The Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) are a network of engineering and technology institutions in India. Established in 1950, they are under the purview of the Ministry of Education of the Indian Government and are governed by the Inst ...

to enhance the sustainability of cities in India. This research was recognised with one of the most successful projects funded by the UK-India Education Research Initiative. Sun designed a sensor system that could be used to measure strain and temperature in pantographs, the connectors that are used to link overhead power cables in for electric trains. These devices are essential for train function and routine checks can miss important information. The optical sensors developed by Sun can continuously monitor

pantograph A pantograph (, from their original use for copying writing) is a Linkage (mechanical), mechanical linkage connected in a manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one pen, in tracing an image, produces identical movements in a se ...

behaviour during operation. The instrumented pantographs developed by Sun are currently being developed by Brecknell Willis. In 2018 Sun was awarded a

Research Chair to work with Brecknell Willis on new railway electrification systems. Sun is working on contactless electrification systems that integrate optical fibre sensors for continuous, ''in situ'' all-weather monitoring. The first pantographs went on service trial in 2019 and included

Global Positioning System The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide ge ...

and video equipment. In 2019 they were awarded funding from the

Railway Industry Association The Railway Industry Association (RIA) is the main industry trade group for railway equipment manufacturers in the United Kingdom. Eligibility for membership to RIA is simple in that it is open to all UK-based companies in the railway supply in ...

Rail Safety and Standards Board The Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) is a British independent company limited by guarantee. Interested parties include various rail industry organisations, including Network Rail, train operating companies (TOCs), and rolling stock compan ...

and

Innovate UK Innovate UK is the United Kingdom's innovation agency, which provides money and support to organisations to make new products and services. It is a non-departmental public body operating at arm's length from the Government as part of the UK Res ...

. Sun was shortlisted for the

Times Higher Education ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The THES''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...

Research Supervisor of the Year.

Awards and honours

Her awards and honours include; * 2008 Elected Fellow of the

Institution of Engineering and Technology The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is a multidisciplinary professional engineering institution. The IET was formed in 2006 from two separate institutions: the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), dating back to 1871,Engin ...

* 2016

Silver Medal * 2018

for services to engineering * 2020 Elected Fellow of the

Selective publications

Her publications include; * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sun, Tong 1968 births Living people Chinese emigrants to England Chinese women engineers Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Female fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Fellows of the Institution of Engineering and Technology Sensor manufacturers Academics of City, University of London Alumni of City, University of London Harbin Institute of Technology alumni Officers of the Order of the British Empire