Howard John Baker

Professor Howard Baker (1947–2026)
Heriot-Watt University is deeply saddened to announce the passing of Professor Howard John Baker, who died peacefully on 7 July 2026 at the age of 79.

Professor Baker was a pioneering laser physicist, gifted engineer, dedicated teacher and valued colleague whose contributions helped shape the field of industrial photonics. Over a career spanning more than four decades, he combined scientific excellence with practical ingenuity, building a legacy that continues to influence research, industry and the many people fortunate enough to have worked alongside him.
Following a period as a Lecturer in Applied Physics at the University of Hull, he joined Heriot-Watt University in 1986, where he spent the remainder of his career, progressing from Senior Lecturer to Professor of Physics, and later to Emeritus Professor after his retirement. 
He played a leading role in development of scalable lasers with RF discharge excitation, and CO2 planar waveguide and array lasers were pioneered. The work aided the establishment of a currently successful laser manufacturer in the UK. Professor Howard Baker leaves an enduring legacy in laser science, engineering and industrial photonics. He will be remembered with great affection, gratitude and respect by his family, friends, colleagues and former students.

His main laser technology interest has been in high power diode lasers, used directly or as pump units for solid-state lasers. A novel diode pumping scheme led to world-leading performance from planar waveguide solid-state lasers. He devised a new technique for fabricating optics to correct the poor beam quality of diode laser bars, combining a novel wavefront measurement technique with custom laser micro-machining. He co-founded PowerPhotonic Ltd, aimed at commercialising this process. Current research continues on the use of laser direct-writing techniques in optics manufacture, and application of laser-cut optics in the general area of high average power industrial diode lasers. A new area is ceramic technology research on vacuum sintered, transparent laser materials for solid-state laser amplifiers and laser-machined LTTC ceramic substrate technology for diode laser packaging. 

Howard is part of the EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Laser-based Production Processes.