A FORMER Dumbarton schoolboy has won a major award for his contributions to science – including work which has helped millions of people around the world with diabetes.

Professor Ian Shanks, one of Scotland’s leading inventors, has been recognised by the Royal Society with the award of a Royal Medal for his “outstanding achievements in applied sciences”.

Named as inventor on around 70 patents, Professor Shanks, a former pupil of Dumbarton Academy, is responsible for inventing blood glucose test strips that enabled self-monitoring of diabetes. He also played a significant role in pioneering the LCD technology used in flat screen TVs and computer displays.

Professor Shanks, who graduated from Glasgow University 50 years ago with a BSc in electrical engineering, and was later appointed a visiting professor and an honorary professor at his old university, has already been widely recognised for his achievements.

He said: “The Royal Medal of the Royal Society is second only to their top award, the Copley Medal, which is its oldest one.

“This is a tremendous honour for me and one of the high points in what has been a rich and rewarding career. I feel both delighted and humbled to have received it.”

Describing his work, the Royal Society said Professor Shanks had “extended knowledge of liquid crystals and applied this successfully to invent novel LCDs”.

The citation added: “He developed commercial diabetes test strips, which have revolutionised the control and therefore the lives of diabetics worldwide.”

In 1984, Professor Shanks was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society – at the time the youngest person ever to have been elected to the role.

He was also made a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1992 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2000 – and received an OBE in 2012 for services to innovation.

He is one of 25 Royal Medal winners named by the Royal Society this year.

Venki Ramakrishnan, the president of the organisation, said: “The Royal Society’s medals and awards celebrate those researchers whose ground-breaking work has helped answer fundamental questions and advance our understanding of the world around us.

“They also champion those who have reinforced science’s place in society, whether through inspiring public engagement, improving our education system, or by making STEM careers more inclusive and rewarding.

“This year has highlighted how integral science is in our daily lives, and tackling the challenges we face, and it gives me great pleasure to congratulate all our winners and thank them for their work.”

Professor Shanks’ work on diabetes test strips was carried out in his own time while he was an employee of pharmaceutical giant Unilever.

He spent 13 years fighting a legal battle against the company over his work on capillary-fill methodology – a vital part of the test strip process, and one which made a significant contribution to Unilever’s commercial success with the technology.

Last year the Supreme Court awarded him substantial compensation from his former employer over the issue in a ruling widely seen as an incentive to future “employee inventors”.