Tong Sun

Professor Tong Sun OBE FREng is a distinguished Professor of Sensor Engineering at City, University of London, where she leads pioneering research in optical fiber sensors and instrumentation. Her work bridges academic excellence with industrial applications, addressing critical challenges across multiple sectors including transportation, built environment, biomedical applications, and homeland security.

Professor Sun earned her academic credentials from prestigious institutions:

• DEng in Precision Instrumentation from Harbin Institute of Technology, China (1998)
• MEng in Precision Instrumentation from Harbin Institute of Technology, China (1993)
• BEng in Precision Instrumentation from Harbin Institute of Technology, China (1990)
• PhD in Applied Physics from City University London (1999)

Professor Sun's research focuses on developing and applying optical fiber sensors to solve real-world industrial problems. Her work spans five major application areas: (i) transportation sensors including smart railway pantographs, marine shaft/propeller monitoring, and self-sensing electric motors for aircraft; (ii) built environment sensors such as humidity sensors for sewer monitoring and heavy metal detectors for soil contamination; (iii) sensors for the electric revolution including self-sensing power electronics; (iv) biomedical applications like smart contact lenses for glaucoma detection; and (v) homeland security sensors using molecular imprinting for drugs and explosives detection. Her research team has designed and manufactured numerous specialized optical fiber sensors tailored to industry challenges, with over 300 scientific papers and 10 patent applications to her name.

Her extensive publication record reveals a consistent trajectory toward increasingly sophisticated sensor applications, with recent work focusing on graphene-enhanced sensors, IoT integration for infrastructure monitoring, and quantum sensing approaches. The research demonstrates strong interdisciplinary connections between optical engineering, materials science, and practical industrial applications.

Professor Sun's exceptional contributions have been recognized with numerous prestigious awards:

• Silver Medal 2016 from the Royal Academy of Engineering
• Oxburgh Medal 2016 from the Institute of Measurement and Control
• Callendar Medal 2010 from the Institute of Measurement and Control
• Times Higher Education Award 2019 for 'Outstanding Research Supervisor of the Year'
• OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours
• Elected Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (2020)

Professor Sun has supervised numerous PhD students across diverse sensor applications and has secured more than 50 research projects as PI/CoI. Her funding portfolio includes support from UK research councils, charitable organizations, and direct industry partnerships, reflecting the strong practical relevance of her work. She holds the Faiveley Brecknell Willis/Royal Academy Research Chair, underscoring her leadership in engineering research.

Her laboratory serves as a hub for sensor innovation, with research teams working on specialized optical fiber sensor development for extreme environments, structural health monitoring, and biomedical applications. The lab maintains strong industry partnerships that ensure research translates directly into practical solutions for real-world challenges.