Professor John Wood CBE FREng FIMMM has been made an Officer of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for chairing the International Steering Committee of the European X-ray Free Electron Project.

He brought the project to a successful conclusion when founder countries signed the international convention last year. This will be an important facility for materials research when it is completed in 2016.

He has also taken up a new post as Secretary-General for the Association of Commonwealth Universities.