This blog post was published under the 2015 to 2024 Conservative government

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Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Part of UK in Austria

10th May 2017 Vienna, Austria

Contact lenses, smart phones, violins, Tribology and you

I’m presenting a world-famous Austrian scientist with a gold medal for scientific achievement. His family are present, bursting with pride, along with other world-class Austrian and German scientists.

Yet until I was asked to present the medal, I had never heard of the scientific discipline of Tribology.

One of the joys and challenges of being a diplomat is the variety.  On a recent day I started with a breakfast discussing Modern Slavery; participated on a panel at a seminar on the future of the EU and Brexit; delivered a keynote speech on the UK’s approach to tackling FGM (Female Genital Mutilation); called at the Austrian Foreign Ministry to discuss the International Court of Justice and the World Health Organisation; had a meeting with the head of a top Vienna international organisation to discuss a range of security and economic-related issues; and hosted a dinner for 12 guests.

So I was delighted to be invited to present the UK-Tribology Gold Medal 2016 to the Austrian Professor Friedrich Franek for his outstanding achievement.

Tribology is the science and technology of interacting surfaces in a state of relative motion.  It covers friction, lubrication and wear.  This means anything from the brakes on your car to the touch-screen on your mobile phone; from the movement of a skate across the ice to that of a violin bow against a string.  Without Tribology, modern artificial hip joints (a speciality of Professor Franek) or contact lenses could not work.

The British mechanical engineer Peter Jost gave birth to the word “Tribology”, which was first included the Oxford English Dictionary in 1964.  He established the Tribology Trust in 1969.  The Trust awards a medal annually to the outstanding tribologist in the field.

The fact that the Tribology Gold Medal was awarded this year for the first time to Austria is an example of the excellence of UK-Austria bilateral science links.  The UK is a top global centre for research and development, including in new technologies such as robotics, biology and medicine, and will remain a reliable partner across all areas of science, research and technology.

I look forward to seeing future Austrian winners of the Tribology Gold Medal.

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About Leigh Turner

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of…

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of the UN and other organisations; stories here will reflect that.

About me: I arrived in Vienna in August 2016 for my second posting in this wonderful city, having first served here in the mid-1980s. My previous job was as HM Consul-General and Director-General for Trade and Investment for Turkey, Central Asia and South Caucasus based in Istanbul.

Further back: I grew up in Nigeria, Exeter, Lesotho, Swaziland and Manchester before attending Cambridge University 1976-79. I worked in several government departments before joining the Foreign Office in 1983.

Keen to go to Africa and South America, I’ve had postings in Vienna (twice), Moscow, Bonn, Berlin, Kyiv and Istanbul, plus jobs in London ranging from the EU Budget to the British Overseas Territories.

2002-6 I was lucky enough to spend four years in Berlin running the house, looking after the children (born 1992 and 1994) and doing some writing and journalism.

To return to Vienna as ambassador is a privilege and a pleasure. I hope this blog reflects that.

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