Top audio industry honour for professor

Emeritus Professor Malcolm Hawksford has been presented with a special award in honour of his valuable contribution to the audio industry.

At the 143rd Audio Engineering Society (AES) Convention in New York, Professor Hawksford was awarded the AES Gold Medal "in recognition of many decades of consistent and influential contributions to the audio industry and education".

He now joins a select group of only about 35 people who have received this top audio engineering award since 1949.

Professor Hawksford, of the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, joined Essex in 1971 as a lecturer and become a professor in 1994. He has taught courses principally in the fields of audio engineering, electronic circuit design, electromagnetic theory, digital communications and TV engineering. He established the audio research group in 1976 and has supervised many students who have gone on to rewarding careers in both industry and academia. 

The AES is a high-profile, leading organisation that focuses specifically on the professional audio industry and Professor Hawksford has been a member and later Fellow of the AES since 1976. He was also the founding chair for the AES technical committee on high-resolution audio.