Royal Academy of Engineering in 2005. In 2007, he was elected to the Russian Academy of Sciences as one of only 240 foreign members. Payne was knighted in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to photonics research and applications. In 2022, Payne was awarded the VinFuture Grand Prize, valued at US $3 million shared with 4 others, for his development of optical fiber communication over five decades related to fiber design, optical amplifiers, specialty fibers, and high-powered lasers and amplifiers that made Internet transmission possible on a global scale, thanks to the ability to boost high-speed optical signals repeatedly. References External links A golden touch - Professor David Payne CBE FREng FRS Ingenia, Issue 38, March 2009 1944 births Living people English physicists Laser researchers Academics of the University of Southampton Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Foreign Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Foreign Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy Knights Bachelor