Keith Nugent

Who is Keith Nugent?

Keith Alexander Nugent is an Australian physicist. He is Professor of Physics at the University of Melbourne, Australia specialising in X-ray optics and near-field optics. He was born in Bath, England. He received a first class honours degree from the University of Adelaide and his postgraduate degree from ANU in Canberra.

In 1989 Professor Nugent in collaboration with Dr. Stephen Wilkins pioneered a form of X-ray optics known as lobster-eye optics. Using the capillary structure found in lobster eyes, Nugent and Wilkins were able to design telescopes with a 360 degree view of the sky. This was initially planned to be used in a LOBSTER satellite which would, indeed, conduct 360 degree surveys of the sky, though never came to fruition. NASA currently have plans to use the technology to view space objects and phenomena from the International Space Station.

In 2001 Nugent was made a Federation Fellow by the Australian Government. This position was renewed in 2006. He also chairs the Sciences Advisory Board of IATIA, a company designed to commercialise some of his inventions. Nugent is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. He sits on the Advisory Board of the Australian Synchrotron.