| Citation | Distinguished for his original contributions to the technology of producing high magnetic fields, and for his imaginative foundation and creative direction of the Oxford Instrument Companies, a high technology group specializing in the development and supply of cryomagnetic equipment for research in the physical and biological sciences and for medical applications. As Senior Research Officer in the Clarendon Laboratory Wood conceived and developed the "polyhelix" design for high-power solenoids which, thanks to their high mechanical strength, efficient power utilization and good heat removal characteristics, are replacing earlier systems for steady fields above 20 T. The Oxford Instrument Company which Wood founded in 1959 while still at the Clarendon Laboratory grew from very small beginnings into the Oxford Instrument Group comprising 6 operational companies in the U.K. and 2 in the U.S.A., employing a total of 800 people. The Group supplies nearly half of the world's helium dilution refrigerators and has established and maintained world leadership in the technology of superconducting magnets for research including nuclear magnetic resonance. It also designed and built the world's first "hybrid" (combined resistive-superconductive) magnet, a brainchild of Wood and D.B. Montgomery of M.I.T. The companies have received four Queen's Awards: for Technological Innovation and Achievement (1967, 1980) and for Exports (1972, 1983). In recognition of its work in the development of superconducting magnets for advanced spectroscopy, particularly high resolution and whole body NMR spectroscopy, the group was awarded in 1982, jointly with Sir Rex Richards's group at Oxford University, the first Prize in the Department of Industry's E.P.I.C. (Education in Partnership with Industry and Commerce) scheme. Also in 1982 Wood and his colleagues Woodgate and Hanley received the Royal Society Mullard Award. The companies' continuing and mutually beneficial principle of constant, intimate collaboration between user and supplier has been inspired by Wood. |