2007 SPIE Award Recipients

Since 1959, SPIE has honored outstanding achievements and excellence in the optics and photonics community through its prestigious awards program. The Awards Committee is pleased to announce the 2007 SPIE award recipients.

Joseph W. Goodman

The Gold Medal of the Society is the highest honor that SPIE bestows. It is presented annually in recognition of outstanding engineering or scientific accomplishments in optics, electro-optics, or photographic technologies or applications, without which the technology would not have progressed to its present state.

Joseph W. Goodman, Stanford University (Stanford, CA), is the 2007 recipient of the Gold Medal of the Society in recognition of his seminal contributions to the field of Fourier optics, optical signal processing, optical interconnects and speckle, as well as his effective and stimulating teachings through three classical textbooks and his leadership roles in promoting optics research, technology transfer from academia to industry, and entrepreneurship.

Read a profile of Goodman here.

Ichirou Yamaguchi

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.

Ichirou Yamaguchi, RIKEN and Gunma University (rtd.), Toyoseiki (consult.), Japan, is the 2007 recipient of the Dennis Gabor Award in recognition of his eminent contributions to the development of holography and speckle metrology through pioneering work in the analysis of correlation properties of diffusely reflected light from laser-illuminated rough surfaces, and the inventions of a laser speckle strain gauge and phase-shifting digital holography.

Alan Title

The George W. Goddard Award is presented annually in recognition of exceptional achievement in optical or photonic instrumentation for aerospace applications, without which the technology would not have progressed to its present state.

Alan Title, Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center (Palo Alto, CA), is the 2007 recipient of the George W. Goddard Award in recognition of his contributions and leadership as the principle investigator for NASA’s TRACE mission, as well as his design and operations of space optics instruments throughout his career, which has had a major impact on probing the hydrodynamics of the Sun’s solar interior and mapping the Sun’s surface magnetic field.

Valery Tuchin

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.

Valery Tuchin, Saratov State University (Saratov, Russia) is the 2007 recipient of the Educator Award in recognition of his unparalleled global contributions to education and dissemination of technical information in the field of biomedical optics and biophotonics, and his pioneering work for SPIE biomedical optics educational programs.

Ellis Betensky

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.

Ellis Betensky, Light Capture Inc. (Ottawa, Canada), is the 2007 recipient of the A. E. Conrady Award in recognition of his significant contributions to expanding the state of the art in zoom lens design.

David M. Williamson

The Frits Zernike Award is given for outstanding accomplishments in microlithographic technology, especially those furthering the development of semiconductor lithographic imaging solutions.

David M. Williamson, Nikon Research Corp. of America (Tucson, AZ), is the 2007 recipient of the Frits Zernike Award for Microlithography in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the advancement of imaging optics for microlithography.

Russell Chipman

The G. G. Stokes Award is given annually for exceptional contribution to the field of optical polarization. The award can be presented for a specific achievement, development, or invention of significant importance to optical science and society, or may be given for lifetime achievement.

Russell Chipman, University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ), is the 2007 recipient of the G. G. Stokes Award in recognition of his many contributions to the fundamental understanding of polarization, development of polarization mathematics, and advancement of the field of polarization engineering.

Ali Adibi

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 demonstrations or applications.

Ali Adibi, Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA), is the 2007 recipient of the SPIE Technology Achievement Award in recognition of his outstanding achievements in the areas of volume holography and photonic crystals.

SPIE presents awards each year that recognize outstanding individual and team technical accomplishments and meritorious service to the Society.

Nominations for a 2008 SPIE Award may be made through 1 October 2007. Anyone may nominate an individual for an award of the Society, and the nominee does not have to be a member of SPIE to be eligible for an award.

For more information on the nomination process and nomination forms, visit SPIE.org/nominate.

The Rudolf Kingslake Medal and Prize is awarded annually by the Kingslake Award Committee to recognize the most noteworthy original paper to appear in the SPIE journal Optical Engineering on the theoretical or experimental aspects of optical engineering. The 2006 Rudolf Kingslake Medal and Prize will be announced at the Optics + Photonics symposium and in the October issue of SPIE Professional.

The President’s Award, a discretionary award plaque, may be given to an individual who, in the opinion of the President and the Board of Directors, has rendered a unique and meritorious service of outstanding benefit to the Society. The 2007 President’s Award will be announced at the Optics + Photonics symposium and in the October issue of SPIE Professional.

The Directors’ Award, a service award certificate, may be given to an individual who, in the opinion of the Board of Directors, has rendered a significant service of outstanding benefit to the Society. This year’s Directors’ Award will be announced at the Optics + Photonics symposium and in the October issue of SPIE Professional.