BELLINGHAM, Washington, USA -- SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, will award more than $350,000 in scholarships this year to 137 outstanding students who have the potential to make important contributions to optics and photonics or a related discipline.

The scholarship grants, to be distributed for the 2011-2012 academic year, bring to more than $3.3 million the total amount SPIE has distributed for individual scholarships over the years. The SPIE Scholarship Program reflects the Society's commitment to education and to the next generation of optical scientists and engineers around the world. Individual awards range from $2,000 to $11,000.

Top 2011 scholarship winners include:

The SPIE D.J. Lovell Scholarship was awarded to Thomas Nesch, University of Cambridge (United Kingdom). This is the Society's most prestigious scholarship, and is awarded for a student's potential contributions to the field of optics, photonics, or related field.

Nutan Gautam, Univ. of New Mexico (USA), was awarded the John Kiel Scholarship which was established to honor SPIE founding member John Kiel, in recognition of his long-standing and significant contributions to the society. This scholarship is sponsored by SPIE and is awarded for the student's potential for long-term contribution to the field of optics and optical engineering.

The Laser Technology, Engineering and Applications Scholarship was awarded to Evgeny Sholokhov, Prokhorov General Physics (Russian Federation). This scholarship is awarded in recognition of the student's scholarly achievement in Laser Technology, Engineering, or Applications. Funds are provided in part by a gift from the former Forum for Military Applications of Directed Energy, and in part by SPIE.

The Optical Design and Engineering Scholarship was awarded to Kathleen Adelsberger, University of Rochester (USA). The scholarship was established in memory of Bill Price and Warren Smith, both well-respected members of SPIE's technical community. This scholarship is awarded to a full-time graduate or undergraduate student in the field of optical design and engineering.

Germain Fenger, Rochester Institute of Technology (USA) was awarded the BACUS Photomask Scholarship. This scholarship is awarded to a full-time undergraduate or graduate student in the field of microlithography with an emphasis on optical tooling and/or semiconductor manufacturing technologies. This scholarship is sponsored by BACUS, SPIE's Photomask International Technical Group.

Other 2011 SPIE Scholarship Recipients by Region:
Africa
Asia
Central/South America
Europe
Middle East
North America
South Pacific

SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, was founded in 1955 to advance light-based technologies. Serving more than 180,000 constituents from 168 countries, the Society advances emerging technologies through interdisciplinary information exchange, continuing education, publications, patent precedent and career and professional growth. SPIE annually organizes and sponsors approximately 25 major technical forums, exhibitions and education programs in North America, Europe, Asia and the South Pacific. SPIE provided over $2.3 million in support of education and outreach programs in 2010.

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Stacey Crockett
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staceyc@spie.org
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