SPIE awarded $292,000 in scholarships to 116 outstanding individuals, based on their potential for long-range contribution to optics and photonics, or a related discipline. Award-winning applicants were evaluated and selected and approved by the SPIE Scholarship Committee.
To date, SPIE has distributed over $2.8 million dollars in individual scholarships. This ambitious effort reflects the Society's commitment to education and to the next generation of optical scientists and engineers around the world.
SPIE recognized and awarded 26 scholarship winners at the Scholarship and Outreach Grant Winners Reception at Optics+Photonics in San Diego, August 2009.
2009 Top Scholarship Winners:
The SPIE D.J. Lovell Scholarship was awarded to Chee-Loon Tan, Lehigh University. This is the Society's most prestigious scholarship. This scholarship is sponsored by SPIE with contributions from Labsphere, Inc.
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Miguel Bandres, California Institute of Technology, is the first awardee of 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 Can Bayram, Northwestern University. 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 Derek Kopon, Univ. of Arizona. 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.
Volker Sorger, Univ. of California, Berkeley, 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.
