The British physicist, Professor Stuart Parkin, won the 2014 Millennium technology prize yesterday for his ground-breaking research in maximizing the storage capacity on digital devices.  The committee selected Parkin for his “”pioneering contribution to the science and application of spintronic materials, his work leading to a prodigious growth in the capacity to store digital information.” The prize — worth one million euros ($1.38 million) — was founded in 2004 and is presented every two years. This year’s ceremony will take place in Helsinki on 7 May.

The IBM Research Fellow and director of Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics commented on the news yesterday.

“I am extremely happy and excited to have won the Millennium Technology Prize because of course it’s one of the most important prizes in the scientific community,” Parkin said in a statement. “I am very humbled and proud to have been awarded the prize, which is a tremendous validation by the scientific community of my work and its impact on the world as a whole.”

(Image Credit: ibmphoto24)