16 February 2017

The Optical Society Presents 15 Prestigious Awards for 2017

16 February 2017
 

The Optical Society Presents 15 Prestigious Awards for 2017

WASHINGTON—The Optical Society (OSA) is pleased to name the 2017 recipients of its prestigious technology awards and medals. The winners include: Martijn de Sterke, Esther Hoffman Beller Medal; Miles J. Padgett, Max Born Award; Paras Prasad, Michael S. Feld Biophotonics Award; Yeshaiahu Fainman, Joseph Fraunhofer Award/Robert M. Burley Prize; Larry Coldren, Nick Holonyak Jr. Award; J. Christopher Dainty, Robert E. Hopkins Leadership Award; Jumpei Tsujiuchi, Emmett N. Leith Medal; Roberto Merlin, Ellis R. Lippincott Award; Dirk Englund, Adolph Lomb Medal; Ming Wu, C. E. K. Mees Medal; Shaul Mukamel, William F. Meggers Award; John Canning, David Richardson Medal; Ken Nakayama, Edgar D. Tillyer Award; Adolf Giesen, Charles Hard Townes Award; Michal Lipson, R. W. Wood Prize.

These award and medal winners join an esteemed group of past recipients recognized by The Optical Society for their outstanding contributions, service and leadership in the field of optics and photonics. Award ceremonies will be held throughout the year.

“Our Society presents a number of awards annually to recognize individual excellence in the field of optics and photonics,” said Eric Mazur, 2017 President of The Optical Society. “The recipients of this year’s awards and medals are paving the way to new discoveries and technologies, and a greater level of understanding of the optical sciences. OSA is incredibly pleased to acknowledge their dedication and celebrates their success.”
 
The OSA Awards Committee reviews nomination packets for each award and medal, including curriculum vitae, letters of recommendation and a statement of career accomplishments related to the award criteria, and present their recommendations to the OSA Awards Committee and OSA Board of Directors.

Both the OSA Awards Committee and the OSA Board of Directors thank those who nominated their colleagues and friends for these awards and extend their congratulations to the recipients.
 
The OSA Board of Directors have approved the following winners for 2017:

Frederic Ives Medal/Quinn Prize
Recipient: Margaret Murnane, University of Colorado at Boulder, USA
The Ives Medal recognizes overall distinction in optics and is OSA’s highest award. OSA honors Margaret Murnane for pioneering and sustained contributions to ultrafast science ranging from femtosecond lasers to soft x-ray high-harmonic generation to attosecond studies of atoms, molecules and surfaces.

Esther Hoffman Beller Medal
Recipient: Martijn de Sterke, University of Sydney, Australia
The Esther Hoffman Beller Medal recognizes outstanding contributions to optical science and engineering education. OSA recognizes Martijn de Sterke for far-reaching and diverse contributions to optics and photonics education through exceptional dedication to classroom teaching, visits to OSA student chapters, outstanding PhD student advising and a sustained commitment to outreach activities.

Max Born Award
Recipient: Miles J. Padgett, University of Glasgow, UK
The Max Born Award recognizes contributions to physical optics. OSA recognizes Miles Padgett for contributions to optics and especially to optical momentum, including the optical spanner, the use of orbital angular momentum in communication systems, and an angular form of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox.

Michael S. Feld Biophotonics Award
Recipient: Paras Prasad, State University of New York at Buffalo, USA
The Michael S. Feld Biophotonics Award recognizes individuals for their innovative and influential contributions to the field of biophotonics, regardless of their career stage. OSA recognizes Paras Prasad for pioneering research in the application of nonlinear optical and multiphoton processes, and for promoting biophotonics and educating future researchers through his seminal monographs and reviews.

Joseph Fraunhofer Award/Robert M. Burley Prize
Recipient: Yeshaiahu Fainman, University of California San Diego, USA
The Joseph Fraunhofer Award/Robert M. Burley Prize recognizes significant research accomplishments in the field of optical engineering. OSA presents this award to Yeshaiahu Fainman for pioneering, seminal and wide ranging contributions to nanoscale engineering of linear and nonlinear optical materials and optical information processing systems components.
 
Nick Holonyak Jr. Award
Recipient: Larry Coldren, University of California Santa Barbara, USA
The Nick Holonyak Jr. Award is given for contributions to optics based on semiconductor-based devices and optical materials, including basic science and technological applications. OSA honors Larry Coldren for his major contributions to photonic integrated circuits.  

Robert E. Hopkins Leadership Award
Recipient: J. Christopher Dainty, University College London, UK
The Robert E. Hopkins Leadership Award recognizes an individual or group of optics professionals who has made a significant impact on the field of optics and/or made a significant contribution to society. OSA recognizes Christopher Dainty for establishing the vision and effective organization of a long-planned and highly successful global celebration of the OSA centennial anniversary, with a focus on OSA’s next 100 years of innovation.

Emmett N. Leith Medal
Recipient: Jumpei Tsujiuchi, Japan
The Emmett N. Leith Medal recognizes seminal contributions to the field of optical information processing. OSA honors Jumpei Tsujiuchi for early pioneering work in optical information processing, holography and optical metrology, including the first demonstration of coherent optical processing for image restoration.

Ellis R. Lippincott Award
Recipient: Roberto Merlin, University of Michigan, USA
The Ellis R. Lippincott Award is given for contributions to vibrational spectroscopy and is co-sponsored by the Coblentz Society and the Society for Applied Spectroscopy. Roberto Merlin is receiving the award for discoveries and applications of phonons in semiconductor hetero- and nano-structures as well as advanced materials using visible and ultrafast x-ray spectroscopy.

Adolph Lomb Medal
Recipient: Dirk Englund, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
The Adolph Lomb Medal recognizes noteworthy contributions made to optics at an early career stage. Dirk Englund is receiving this medal for pioneering contributions to scalable solid-state quantum memories in nitrogen-vacancy diamond, high-dimensional quantum key distribution, and photonic integrated circuits for quantum communication and computation
 
C. E. K. Mees Medal
Recipient: Ming Wu, University of California, Berkeley, USA
Established in 1961 in memory of C. E. K. Mees, this medal is recognizes an original use of optics across different fields. OSA recognizes Ming Wu for the invention of optoelectronic tweezers that enable massively parallel manipulation of individual biological cells controlled by digital optical projectors
 
William F. Meggers Award
Recipient: Shaul Mukamel, University of California Irvine, USA
The William F. Meggers Award recognizes outstanding work in spectroscopy. Shaul Mukamel is being recognized for developing the theoretical framework of coherent multidimensional spectroscopy for electronic excitations in the optical regime and proposing extensions to the x-ray spectral regime
 
David Richardson Medal
Recipient: John Canning, University of Sydney, Australia
The David Richardson Medal is given for significant contributions to optical engineering, primarily in the commercial and industrial sector. John Canning is receiving the medal for seminal scientific and engineering contributions in fundamental and applied photonics across materials, devices, systems and instrumentation, and for translating these into industry.

Edgar D. Tillyer Award
Recipient: Ken Nakayama, Harvard University, USA
The Edgar D. Tillyer Award is presented to a person who has performed distinguished work in the field of vision, including (but not limited to) the optics, physiology, anatomy or psychology of the visual system. Ken Nakayama is receiving the award for wide ranging studies of the visual system, especially for unique and critical contributions to the formulation of a distinct level of visual processing.
 
Charles H. Townes Award
Recipient: Adolf Giesen, German Aerospace Center, Germany
The Charles Hard Townes Award is given for contributions to quantum electronics. Adolf Giesen is receiving the award for for pioneering breakthroughs in the field of solid-state lasers by the invention of and fundamental contributions to thin disk lasers.

R.W. Wood Prize
Recipient: Michal Lipson, Columbia University, USA
The R. W. Wood Prize is given for an outstanding discovery, scientific or technological achievement or invention. Michal Lipson is receiving this recognition for pioneering research contributions in silicon photonics.
 
About The Optical Society
Founded in 1916, The Optical Society (OSA) is the leading professional organization for scientists, engineers, students and entrepreneurs who fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate achievements in the science of light. Through world-renowned publications, meetings and membership initiatives, OSA provides quality research, inspired interactions and dedicated resources for its extensive global network of optics and photonics experts. For more information, visit osa.org/100.
 
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