Lord Dainton, as Chancellor of the University of Sheffield, commissioned a silver medal for annual presentation at the University's degree ceremony. The design process involved several meetings, during which he showed me his personal collection of medals and decorations — a very helpful way to establish the qualities he was looking for and a fascinating collection in its own right.

My design sought to represent the centre or core of research and endeavour — the essential point from which inquiry radiates outward.

My idea for the design connects directly to the University's motto, taken from Virgil's Georgics — Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas — "Fortunate, who was able to know the causes of things." Dryden's translation gives it real sweep: "Happy the Man, who, studying Nature's Laws, Through known Effects can trace the secret Cause." A motto that celebrates not just knowledge, but the deep satisfaction of understanding why things are as they are.

The first recipient was Helen Sharman, the first British astronaut — a wonderful inauguration for the award. Helen Sharman will have seen Earth, but not quite as depicted in the medal!

Lord Dainton later mentioned, when he came across me exhibiting at the Goldsmiths' Fair, that he had donated one of the medals to the permanent collection at Goldsmiths' Hall. That for me was the icing on the cake!