21 November 2011

OSA Foundation Recognizes Student Researchers Frontiers in Optics 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Lyndsay Meyer
The Optical Society
+1.202.416.1435
lmeyer@osa.org

OSA Foundation Recognizes Student Researchers Frontiers in Optics 2011

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 – The OSA Foundation is pleased to announce the most recent  student grant winners  and scholarship recipients, recognized during the OSA Foundation Chairman’s Breakfast, held during the Optical Society’s (OSA) 95th Annual Meeting, Frontiers in Optics (FiO) 2011 in San Jose, Calif. Winners were announced for six  OSA Foundation programs: The Emil Wolf Outstanding Student Paper Competition, the Jean Bennett Memorial Student Travel Grant, Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Student Travel Grants, the Harvey M. Pollicove Memorial Scholarship, the Incubic/Milton Chang Travel Grant, and the OSA Foundation Student Travel Grants.

“We are delighted to see such a high level of involvement, creativity, and research quality from all of our student participants,” said OSA Foundation Chair G. Michael Morris. “The intent of these programs is to call attention to the hard work of this young generation of optical scientists from around the world. Their outstanding efforts deserve recognition and the Frontiers in Optics meeting serves as a perfect venue to highlight their accomplishments.”

Emil Wolf Outstanding Student Paper Competition

Seven students were named Emil Wolf Outstanding Student Paper Competition winners.  Established in 2008, the competition was created in honor of Professor Emil Wolf’s many contributions to science and the OSA. The competition recognizes the innovation and excellence of student research presented at Frontiers in Optics. Each FiO technical subcommittee can select one winner based on their presentation during the meeting. The competition is sponsored by the Elsevier publication Optics Communications, with additional support provided by Physical Optical Corporation, the University of Rochester Physics Department, the Institute of Optics, and individual contributions. Winners receive a complimentary one-year OSA student membership, an award stipend and an award certificate.

The winners recognized at FiO 2011 were:

Submission Category: Optical Design, Fabrication and Instrumentation
Fiona Kenny, National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland
Paper Title: Vectorial Polarimeter using an Inhomogeneous Polarization State Generator

Submission Category: Optical Sciences
Alexander Buck, Max-Planck-Institute für Quantenoptik, Germany
Paper Title: Tunable Laser-Driven Electron Acceleration via Shock Front Injection

Submission Category: Optics in Information Science
Lei Tian, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
Paper Title: Compressive Phase Space Tomography

Submission Category: Fiber Optics and Optical Communications
Ria Becker, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Germany
Paper Title: Observation of Spectral Gouy Shift in Large Cross-Section Fiber Bragg Gratings

Submission Category: Integrated Photonics
Arash Joushaghani, University of Toronto, Canada
Paper Title: Ultra-low Energy Optical Self-Amplitude and Phase  Modulation in Gold Nano-Apertures

Submission Category: Quantum Electronics
Sylvanus Lee, Boston University, USA
Paper Title: Isotropic Structural Color of Nanostructured Metal Surfaces

Submission Category: Vision and Color
Thomas Kohlgraf-Owens, University of Central Florida, USA
Paper Title: Imaging Spectroscopy without a Spectrometer

Jean Bennett Memorial Student Travel Grant

Micha Nixon of the Weizman Institute of Science, Israel was awarded the 2011 Jean Bennett Memorial Student Travel Grant for his research papers titled “Synchronized Cluster Formation in Coupled Laser Networks,” “Geometric Frustration in Large Arrays of Coupled Lasers,” and “Phase Locking Large Arrays of Lasers via a Single Degenerate Cavity.”  The grant provided a stipend to cover travel expenses to FiO. The program was established in memory of Jean M. Bennett, a highly decorated research physicist renowned for her contributions to the studies of optical surfaces and who served as OSA’s first female president. It is made possible through the support of Nanoptek Corporation, the Pennsylvania State University Department of Physics, and individual contributors.

Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Student Travel Grants

Sergio Carbajo of the Colorado State University, USA and Ying Geng of the University of Rochester, USA were the recipients of the 2011 FiO Hilbert Memorial Student Travel Grants. This program was established in 2009 by Optical Research Associates (now the Optical Solutions Group at Synopsys), as a memorial to their former President and CEO Robert S. Hilbert. The grants, which provide a stipend to cover travel expenses to FiO, are awarded to students conducting outstanding research in the areas of optical engineering, lens design, and illumination design.

Harvey M. Pollicove Memorial Scholarship

The Harvey M. Pollicove Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Nea Sample of Monroe Community College, USA.  The scholarship was established in 2008 through contributions from Harvey Pollicove’s friends and colleagues to recognize his work in the field of precision optics manufacturing. is the monetary award is given to a student pursuing a degree in the field of precision optics manufacturing and rotates among four institutions: the University of Rochester, the University of Arizona, the University of Central Florida and Monroe Community College.

Incubic/Milton Chang Travel Grants

Funded by an endowment from Milton and Rosalind Chang, this program provides 10 grants to enable students who present papers to travel to CLEO and FiO.

Francesco Aieta, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Italy
Rocío Borrego Varillas, Universidad de Salamanca, Spain
Anton Bykov, Moscow State University, Russian Federation
Juliana de Almeida, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
Gillian Kyne, National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland
Martin Lavery, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom
Anirban Mitra, University of Rochester, USA
Jeremy Moore, University of Michigan, USA
Pavel Porizka, Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic
Kevin Vora, Harvard University, USA

OSA Foundation Student Travel Grants

The OSA Foundation offers travel grants to students from qualifying developing nations, to help off-set the costs of attending FiO. Travel grants average $1,000 per award.

Paulo Brandão, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Brazil
Anton Bykov, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russian Federation
Kelly Camargo, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Ruchi Garg, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India
Hayk Ishkhanyan, The Institute for Physical Research of the National Academy of Sciences, Armenia
Hector Jimenez-Romero, CINVESTAV, Mexico
Yasin Karadag, KoC University, Turkey
Ashok Kumar, Physical Research Laboratory Ahmedabad, India
Angelika Luchenko, Institute of Semiconductor Physics of Lashkaryov, Ukraine
Evgeniy Mamonov, Moscow State University, Russian Federation
Lucien Mandeng Mandeng, University of Yaounde, Cameroon
David Serrano Garcia, Centro de Investigaciones en Optica, Mexico
Alexey Starobor, Institute of Applied Physics, Russian Federation
Sergey Svyakhovsky, Moscow State University, Russian Federation
Mehdi Yuce, KoC University, Turkey

About the OSA Foundation

The OSA Foundation was established in 2002 to support philanthropic activities that help further the Optical Society's (OSA) mission by concentrating its efforts on providing career and professional development resources and support awards & honors that recognize technical and business excellence. The grants funded by the OSA Foundation are made possible by the generous donations of its supporters as well as the dollar-for-dollar match by OSA. The Foundation is exempt from U.S. federal income taxes under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and is a public charity. To learn more about the OSA Foundation, please visit www.osa-foundation.org.

About Frontiers in Optics

Frontiers in Optics 2011 is OSA’s 95th Annual Meeting and is being held together with Laser Science XXVII, the annual meeting of the American Physical Society (APS) Division of Laser Science (DLS). The two meetings unite the OSA and APS communities for five days of quality, cutting-edge presentations, fascinating invited speakers and a variety of special events spanning a broad range of topics in physics, biology and chemistry. FiO 2011 will also offer a number of Short Courses designed to increase participants’ knowledge of a specific subject while offering the experience of insightful teachers. An exhibit floor featuring leading optics companies will further enhance the meeting.

About OSA

Uniting more than 130,000 professionals from 175 countries, the Optical Society (OSA) brings together the global optics community through its programs and initiatives. Since 1916 OSA has worked to advance the common interests of the field, providing educational resources to the scientists, engineers and business leaders who work in the field by promoting the science of light and the advanced technologies made possible by optics and photonics. OSA publications, events, technical groups and programs foster optics knowledge and scientific collaboration among all those with an interest in optics and photonics. For more information, visit www.osa.org.

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