BELLINGHAM, Washington, USA - Each year SPIE recognizes outstanding achievements through its awards program. The Awards Committee is pleased to announce the 2010 SPIE Award recipients.
Gold Medal of the Society
Charles H. Townes, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA, is 2010 recipient of the Gold Medal of the Society in recognition of his extraordinary foresight in recognizing the potential of the laser and coherent light 50 years ago, for his pursuit of the requisite scientific inquiry to turn lasers into one of the most potentially disruptive technologies of the 21st century and finally for his pioneering scientific contributions to the fields of optics, lasers, astronomy and molecular spectroscopy. View press release.
The Gold Medal of the Society is the highest honor that the SPIE bestows. Beginning in 1977, it has been awarded annually in recognition of outstanding engineering or scientific accomplishments in optics, electro-optics, or photographic technologies or applications. The recipient(s) shall have made an exceptional contribution to the advancement of relevant technology.
A. E. Conrady Award
Juan Carlos Miñano, Universidad Politeconica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain, is the 2010 recipient of the A.E. Conrady Award in recognition his exceptional contributions in developing new design methods and devices in Nonimaging Optics. View press release
The A. E. Conrady Award is presented annually in recognition of exceptional contributions in design, construction, and testing of optical systems and instrumentation, without which the technology would not have progressed to its present state.
Harold E. Edgerton Award
J. Gary Eden, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, USA, is the 2010 recipient of the Harold E. Edgerton Award in recognition of his major contributions in demonstrating optical techniques for observing physical phenomena, including his seminal work in atomic, molecular and ultra fast spectroscopy. View press release
The Harold E. Edgerton Award is presented annually for outstanding contributions to optical or photonic techniques in the application and understanding of high speed physical phenomena. The development of new technologies and the new application of existing technologies shall be considered in the determination of the award.
Dennis Gabor Award
Mitsuo Takeda, University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo, Japan, is the 2010 winner of the Dennis Gabor award in recognition of his eminent contributions to the development of holography and optical metrology through the inventions of the Fourier transform method for fringe analysis and coherence holography. View press release
The Dennis Gabor award is presented annually in recognition of outstanding accomplishments in diffractive wavefront technologies, especially those which further the development of holography and metrology applications.
George W. Goddard Award
Moustafa T. Chahine, Jet Propulson Laboratory, Pasadena, California, USA, is the 2010 winner of the George W. Goddard award in recognition of his exceptional achievement in optical science and instrumentation for aerospace and atmospheric research. View press release
The George W. Goddard Award is presented annually in recognition of exceptional achievement in optical or photonic instrumentation for aerospace, atmospheric science, or astronomy. The award is for the invention and development of a new technique, photonic instrumentation, instrument, or system.
G.G. Stokes Award
Emil Wolf, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA, is the 2010 recipient of the G.G. Stokes Award in recognition of his contributions in formulating the modern theories of coherence and polarization of optical fields. View press release
The G. G. Stokes Award is given annually for exceptional contribution to the field of optical polarization. The award may be presented for a specific achievement, development, or invention of significant importance to optical science and society, or may be given for lifetime achievement. View press release.
Chandra S. Vikram Award in Optical Metrology
James C. Wyant, College of Optical Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA, is the 2010 recipient of the Chandra S. Vikram award in recognition of his lifetime of achievements in optical metrology, in particular his pioneering contributions to the field of quantitative interferometric optical testing, and for nurturing the invention of phase-measuring interferometer systems. View press release.
The Chandra S. Vikram Award in Optical Metrology is given annually for exceptional contribution to the field of optical metrology. The award may be presented for a specific achievement, development, or invention of significant importance to optical metrology, or may be given for lifetime achievement.
Frits Zernike Award in Microlithography
Marc D. Levenson, BetaSights, Saratoga, Califoria, USA, is the 2010 recipient of the Frits Zernike Award for Microlithography in recognition of one of the most important developments in lithography resolution enhancement of the last twenty years, the phase shifting mask. View press release.
The Frits Zernike Award is given for outstanding accomplishments in microlithographic technology, especially those furthering the development of semiconductor lithographic imaging solutions.
SPIE Early Career Achievement Award
Alberto Salleo, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA, is the 2010 recipient of the Early Career Achievement award in recognition of his fundamental and highly influential contributions in large area electronics, polymer thin film transistors, and laser/material interactions. View press release
The SPIE Early Career Achievement Award is given for the first time in 2008, to an early career professional in recognition of significant and innovative technical contributions to any of the engineering or scientific fields of interests to SPIE.
SPIE Educator Award
Nicholas M. Massa, Springfield Technical Community College , Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, is the 2010 Educator Award winner in recognition of his multiple contributions to optics/photonics education over the past 23 years including: educating, mentoring and preparing hundreds of college students for the workforce; teaching in-service teachers and technicians in industry; serving on SPIE Education and ETOP long-range planning committees; developing new instructional materials and co-authoring a user-friendly introductory optics textbook. View press release.
The SPIE Educator Award is presented annually in recognition of outstanding contributions to optics education by an SPIE instructor or an educator in the field.
SPIE Technology Achievement Award
Akhlesh Lakhtakia, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA, is the 2010 recipient of the Technology Achievement award in recognition of his conceptualization of sculptured thin films, wide-ranging theoretical and experimental research in optics on these materials, and for characterizing them as nanoengineered metamaterials. View press release
The SPIE Technology Achievement award is awarded annually to recognize outstanding technical accomplishment in optics, electro-optics, photonic engineering, or imaging. The recipient(s) shall have contributed significantly to the advancement of one or more of these areas with specific demonstration(s) or application(s).
SPIE presents several yearly awards that recognize outstanding individual and team technical accomplishments and meritorious service to the Society. SPIE urges you to nominate a colleague for his or her outstanding achievements. Nominations may be made through October 1 of any given year and are considered active for three years from the submission date. Visit SPIE.org/x1164.xml for instructions and nomination forms.
SPIE the international society for optics and photonics was founded in 1955 to advance light-based technologies. Serving more than 188,000 constituents from 138 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, and supports scholarships, grants, and other education programs around the world.
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