Latest news with #RayDolby
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
NEW RAY DOLBY - MARSHALL SCHOLARSHIP FUND ANNOUNCED, ENDOWMENT SUPPORTS THIRD-YEAR DOCTORAL RESEARCH
NEW YORK, May 26, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Association of Marshall Scholars, together with the family of pioneering sound engineer Ray Dolby, announce the "Ray Dolby - Marshall Scholarship Fund," an endowment to support Marshall Scholars who will be completing their third year of doctoral research in the United Kingdom. Ray Dolby studied physics at Cambridge University under the British government's flagship Marshall Scholarship as part of the class of 1957. Recognizing the Scholarship's role in bringing Dolby to the UK at an early stage of his research – work which subsequently transformed the nature of recorded sound across the globe - the Dolby family has given $3.6m (~£2.8m) to establish an endowment bringing comparable advanced research opportunities to future generations of Americans. The Ray Dolby - Marshall Scholarship endowment comes as Cambridge University opens the Ray Dolby Centre, supported by £85m from the Dolby estate and serving as the new center piece of the Cavendish Laboratory (Department of Physics). This national facility for physics will "support a diverse array of physics research and nurture the next generations of engineers, physicists and inventors," according to Professor Mete Atatüre, Head of the Cavendish Laboratory, "expanding the UK's science capabilities – in areas such as quantum technologies which are set to create new advanced industries and products." The Dolby family has given more than £150m in philanthropic support to Cambridge University to revitalise and develop the Cavendish Laboratory and to support a new fund for teaching and research, the Dolby Family Fund for Excellence in Physics. Ray Dolby OBE (1933-2013) was an inventor, audio pioneer, and founder of Dolby Laboratories, who transformed the sound of entertainment. Dolby's technical innovations in noise reduction and "surround sound," among other inventions, helped open new creative possibilities for cinematic and broadcast audio around the world. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Star Wars, A Clockwork Orange, and A Star is Born are among the earliest of the 37,000+ films that have been created using Dolby technologies. With nearly 10,000 issued patents, the company and Ray Dolby have been recognized for their path-breaking contributions to the motion picture industry with many Academy Awards, Emmys, Grammys, and Oscars. Studying for a doctorate at the Cavendish Lab, Cambridge University, was pivotal for Dolby's career. Ray Dolby founded Dolby Laboratories in London in 1965 – bringing to it, according to his wife, Dagmar Dolby "the spirit of novel research and innovation which he had seen in Cambridge." The company took advantage of London being the world's hub for musical recordings in the 60's, working with Decca, the BBC, and many others, and eventually growing from a handful of employees to over 2,000 with 47 offices in 20 countries. Lord Chris Smith, previous Master of Pembroke College, reflects: "Ray Dolby came to Pembroke as a Marshall Scholar to do a PhD in x-ray microscopy; he went on to invent the sound system that revolutionized listening for the world. In subsequent years, he has had a major impact on Cambridge [University], supporting both Pembroke and the Cavendish Laboratory in a myriad of different ways. His commitment to the enhancement of Cambridge's facilities and the educational opportunities of our students has been second to none." As the first cohort of Ray Dolby - Marshall Scholars begins their research in the fall, Dagmar Dolby, Ray's widow, remembers: "Going to England opened Ray's eyes to the world and the exceptional creativity of the work being done at the Cavendish. It was there that he was inspired to tackle long-standing and difficult problems. Ray always acknowledged the critical role his time spent as a Marshall Scholar at Cambridge was to his development as a scientist." The endowment provided by Dolby's estate augments the British Government funded two-year Marshall Scholarship, deepening and expanding research opportunities for young American leaders studying in the United Kingdom. The philanthropic giving of Ray Dolby and his family, along with other scholars, over the past decade to their shared alma mater - Cambridge University - is 33 million pounds more than the entire cost of the Marshall Scholarship program in its 70 years of existence (adjusted for inflation) to the British Government. The Association of Marshall Scholars, made up of over 2,000 recipients of the Marshall Scholarship, builds upon the legacy of the Marshall Plan and the Marshall Scholarship, helping to expand the bounds of human knowledge and deepen ties between the United States and the United Kingdom and their shared democratic values. View original content: SOURCE Association of Marshall Scholars Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
BBC News
09-05-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Inside Cambridge's Ray Dolby Centre where history could be made
From the structure of DNA to the electron and neutron, some of the most significant scientific discoveries have been made in the Cavendish Laboratory. Founded 150 years ago to house the physics department at the University of Cambridge, the lab has relocated twice to ensure its facilities kept pace with its science. On Friday, it opens in the Ray Dolby Centre, named after the former Cambridge student who brought us surround-sound. A team of 1,000 scientists are now hoping to etch their own names in history inside the new base. The Ray Dolby Centre is as different to the original Cavendish Laboratory as a building can be. Canopies covered in copper fish scales hang above the staircases and exhibits of famous instruments are displayed in glass cases. Away from the entrance lies a warren of 173 laboratories. In many, the air is constantly filtered, light is controlled and there is no vibration. These controls are vital to the experiments now conducted here, but Dr Dave Ellis, head of nanofabrication, says those sensitivities also made moving the laboratory much harder."Some equipment, like the optics tables, can't be tilted at all, so there were rough patches of road which we had to resurface to make the journey smooth," he says. "The removals company also developed new techniques to ensure the lorries stayed stable when the equipment was moved. "Everyone went to great lengths to make it a success." In one of the new labs, PHD student Sarah Sibug-Torres is trying to develop a toilet that uses gold and lasers to analyse urine - a process called Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. "Everyone uses a loo," says Ms Sibug-Torres, "but not everyone realises the urine we flush away contains thousands of different types of molecules."[They] can give clues about whether someone is developing disease or responding to medication, for example. "Each type of molecule vibrates in a different way, so, unlike with a traditional urine dip test, we can identify these molecules even in very low concentrations."Ms Sibug-Torres hopes her work will enable early diagnosis and better all-round health in future. Other teams at the Cavendish are working on ways to use light to improve endoscopic tests for oesophageal are also creating components to help the CERN Collider in Switzerland, which aims to detect new particles furthering our understanding of dark matter in space. Dr Stefan Diesing is developing new solar panels to power the satellites that we rely on in space for GPS, communication and earth monitoring."In space, unlike on earth, there's no magnetic field to shield you against all the things that are whizzing around," he explains. "Those particles can damage the solar panels, so they don't last as long. "We're developing a much more resilient material which is also very thin."Dr Diesing says these new panels could one day enable solar farms in space, which capture energy and beam it back for use on earth. The building has been designed so research teams collaborate more and share ideas. The head of the Cavendish Laboratory, Prof Mete Atatüre, says interaction is critical but it was much harder in the old building."I loved the old lab, but it prioritised lab space over everything else," she explains."Here, you bump into people all the time and discuss your work - and that can lead to something else."While some features are deliberately different to the previous lab, others protect tradition. In the coming weeks, some of the old blackboards will be installed. Prof Atatüre insists it is important that scientists still work through problems by "getting chalk on their hands", much like their predecessors. In addition to funding from the University of Cambridge, the Ray Dolby Foundation gave £85m to the project. Ray Dolby was a PHD student in Cambridge in the 1950s and went on to invent the world famous surround-sound system that transformed music and movies from the late 1970s. The government has also provided £75m to keep the building as a national resource open to scientists from across the is also expected to inspire both students and the public the Cavendish Laboratory being home to 31 Nobel Prize winners, it is hoped this new facility will soon have a few history-makers of its own. Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
17-02-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
BBC Radio 4 announces Artworks, a brand new podcast strand
The BBC has launched a new podcast feed, Artworks, the home for imaginative documentaries about culture and the arts from BBC Radio 4. Alongside existing podcast strands on BBC Sounds, such as Intrigue, Extreme, World of Secrets, Illuminated and Limelight, the Artworks strand will ensure high quality single programmes about culture are more discoverable for audiences. As the go-to place for arts documentaries, listeners will have access to the incredible stories behind creative figures who have shaped our culture – today and in the past. Artworks will explore inspirational and influential poets, contemporary artists who are pushing boundaries, singers, actors, painters, dancers, writers and directors from across the world. The new strand launches with the release of the latest run of Role Play: a series in which actors from across the world reflect on a single part they have all played: Episode One features performers including Dame Judi Dench and Dame Janet Suzman describe what it's like to play Cleopatra, taking us through the character's journey in William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. Subsequent episodes focus on Blanche Dubois from Streetcar Named Desire, with contributors including Cate Blanchett and Patsy Ferran; and Charles Dicken's Fagin, with Christopher Eccleston, Omid Djalili and Simon Lipkin amongst others. Looking ahead, further documentaries being added to the Artworks umbrella strand include: Talk Talk: Living in Another World, which sees Elbow frontman Guy Garvey explore the mystery surrounding the pop group Talk Talk, their reclusive leader Mark Hollis, and the album 'Spirit of Eden', that saw him eschew fame and fortune in favour of something radically different; Hip Hop Homework, a look at Nkem Ifejika's relationship with hip hop and how he will share that with his young children and his worries about explicit aspects of the music and its culture; Art That Conquered the World, where art historian James Fox explores the twists of fate, changing fashions, auctions, thefts and memes that propelled the most well-known artworks into the artistic stratosphere; Paul Simon's Political Storm, where South African reporter Lynsey Chutel investigates the legacy of one the most controversial album roll-outs ever - Paul Simon's 1980s album 'Graceland'; Surrounded by Sound: Ray Dolby and the Art of Noise Reduction, where Matthew Sweet investigates the life of inventor Ray Dolby, and the transformative impact his sound system has had on cinema; and Orchestras of Auschwitz, where young conductor and composer Leo Geyer collaborates with the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum to study the concentration camp prisoner orchestras and decode their arrangements; Previously released documentaries including What a Shocker! The Life of Leigh Bowery, Beyond Burns, 50 Years of the Koln Concert, Dreaming of Connie Converse and The Hazard of the Die will now also be located under the Artworks strand on BBC Sounds. Matthew Dodd, Commissioning Editor for Arts at BBC Radio 4, says 'We are excited to launch the new digital strand, Artworks, as a go-to spot to distribute BBC Radio 4's arts and culture documentaries on BBC Sounds. Following the success of other strands, such as 'Limelight' - which ranked as the fifth most listened to podcast feed last quarter on BBC Sounds - we want to ensure arts documentaries and series are easily and readily accessible to all, whilst keeping up with the changing nature of the current audio landscape.' The new series of Role Play lands on 24 February 2025. Listen to Artworks now on BBC Sounds CI2
