Current Interests

Kevin O'Holleran's passion for exploring the nature of light and thirst for learning new topics has brought him naturally to the bBiophotonics area within NPL's Biotechnology Group. Here, he is using his expertise in optics to design and build a structured illumination microscope that utilises beam shaping to allow algorithmic recovery of super resolution images.

Alongside this goal, Kevin will be developing novel software that will simulate the complexities of imaging within a biological environment. These two goals complement each other very well, with each being able to aid in calibrating and understanding the other.

Biography

After graduating with an MSci in Physics from the University of Glasgow, Kevin followed his interest in holography and stayed on to complete a PhD in singular optics. This research primarily involved advanced beam shaping of light using programmable holographic optical elements and large scale simulation of singularities in complex scalar fields. Kevin's PhD work has been published, and even used as cover art, in high impact journals such as Nature Physics and Physical Review Letters.

On completing his PhD, Kevin's desire to learn new domains led him to work for a consultancy. This consultancy specialised in innovative solutions to industry needs through a deep mathematical capability coupled with a highly creative approach. During his time there, Kevin learned and expanded upon a great breadth of topics covering decision theory, game theory, classification and machine learning among many other Artificial Intelligence topics.

Selected Publications

• Isolated Optical Vortices
  M. R. Dennis, R. P. King, B. Jack, K. O'Holleran and M. J. Padgett
  Nature Physics 6, pages 118-121 (2010)
  DOI: 10.1038/nphys1504
• Topology of light's darkness
  K. O'Holleran, M. R. Dennis and M. J. Padgett
  Phys. Rev. Lett., 102, page 143902 (2009)
  DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.143902.
• Fractality of light's darkness
  K. O'Holleran, F. Flossmann, M. R. Dennis and M. J. Padgett
  Phys. Rev. Lett., 100, page 053902 (2008)
  DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.053902.
• Topology of optical vortex lines formed by the interference of three, four and five plane waves
  K. O'Holleran, M. J. Padgett and M. R. Dennis
  Opt. Express, 14 (7), pages 3039-3044 (2006)
  DOI: 10.1364/OE.14.003039.

Contact details

E-mail: kevin.o-holleran@npl.co.uk
Tel: 020 8943 7193