Colin Edwin Conisbee Wood - Obituary

olin Edwin Conisbee Wood, of Davidsonville MD, lost his courageous battle with pancreatic cancer on September 26,2019. He died peacefully with his family by his side. He was born in St. Annes, England on April 27, 1945. He graduated from Nottingham University in England, first with a Ph.D in Chemistry and then in 2005 was awarded Doctor of Science. He started his career as a research scientist at Phillips Research Laboratories where he developed a technique called Molecular Beam Epitaxy. He was head-hunted by Cornell University and emigrated to Ithaca in 1978 where he helped develop the Cornell Sub Micron Center. He returned to England briefly in 1982 to work at General Electric Research Laboratories. During that time he was a Visiting Industrial Professor at the Cavendish Laboratory of Cambridge University and the University of Cardiff. In 1987 he was awarded the Clifford C. Patterson medal from the Institute of Physics for contributions to electronic materials research. He returned to Ithaca in 1988. Subsequently, he worked at the Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the University of Maryland and finally as a Program Officer at the Office of Naval Research in Arlington, VA. In 1999, he was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society for pioneering and original contributions to the crystal growth of III-V materials by MBE, including the discovery of RHEED oscillation, delta-doping and low temperature GaAs. He was an avid bird-watcher, visiting 72 countries in pursuit of his passion. He also loved gardening, crabbing and bee-keeping. Colin is survived by his wife Ann of 52 years, his beloved daughter Catherine, son Andrew, daughter-in-law Kristen, grandchildren Emma and Miles, and brother Robin and family in England. A private family memorial is planned. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Doctors without Borders Online condolences may be offered by using the memory wall link at the top of this page. .