SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION: Recognizing and encouraging student innovation at Frontiers in Optics '11

Spotlight on inspiring the next generation of scientists and business leaders.

Encouraging young scientists through grants, scholarships, and awards is one of the primary goals of the OSA Foundation (OSAF). These much-needed programs are made possible though donations and the dollar-for-dollar matching funds provided by the OSA.

While Foundation-sponsored resources are awarded throughout the year and around the world, many students receive their funding and recognitions during the OSA Annual Meeting/Frontiers in Optics (FiO). This year, the following OSAF recognitions and grants were disbursed during the OSAF Chairman’s Breakfast, which takes place during the FiO conference in San Jose, CA.

“The intent of these programs is to call attention to the hard work of this young generation of optical scientists from around the world,” said OSAF Chair G. Michael Morris. “We were delighted to see such a high level of involvement, creativity, and research quality from all of our student participants. Their outstanding efforts deserve recognition.”

The programs and 2011 winners are:

Emil Wolf Outstanding Student Paper Competition
Established in 2008 to honor 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. 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. The seven student honorees were selected by the FiO technical subcommittees.

Ria Becker, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Germany; "Observation of Spectral Gouy Shift in Large Cross-Section Fiber Bragg Gratings."

Alexander Buck, Max Planck Institute für Quantenoptik, Germany; "Tunable Laser-Driven Electron Acceleration via Shock Front Injection."

Arash Joushaghani, University of Toronto, Canada; "Ultra-low Energy Optical Self-Amplitude and Phase Modulation in Gold Nano-Apertures."

Fiona Kenny, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland; "Vectorial polarimeter using an inhomogeneous polarization state generator."

Thomas Kohlgraf-Owens, University of Central Florida, USA; "Imaging Spectroscopy without a Spectrometer."

Sylvanus Lee, Boston University, USA; "Isotropic Structural Color of Nanostructured Metal Surfaces."

Lei Tian, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA; "Compressive phase space tomography."

Incubic/Milton Chang Travel Grant
Funded by an endowment from Milton and Rosalind Chang, this program provides 10 grants of up to $500 USD to enable students who present papers to travel to FiO or CLEO. 2011 travel grants were awarded to 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; and Kevin Vora, Harvard University, USA.

Jean Bennett Memorial Student Travel Grant
This grant program was established in 2008 in memory of OSA’s first female president, Jean M. Bennett, a highly decorated research physicist renowned for her contributions to the studies of optical surfaces. It is made possible through the support of Nanoptek Corporation, the Pennsylvania State University Department of Physics, and individual contributors.

Micha Nixon of the Weizmann Institute of Science in 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." Nixon received a stipend to cover his travel expenses to FiO.

Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Student Travel Grants
Grants are awarded to students conducting outstanding research in the areas of optical engineering, lens design, and illumination design. The 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.

Sergio Carbajo of Colorado State University, USA, and Ying Geng of the University of Rochester, USA, were the 2011 recipients.

Harvey M. Pollicove Memorial Scholarship
Established in 2008 to recognize Harvey Pollicove’s work in the field of precision optics manufacturing, the scholarship is awarded 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. The scholarship program was funded through contributions from Pollicove’s friends and colleagues.

The 2011 Harvey M. Pollicove Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Nea Sample of Monroe Community College, USA.

OSAF Travel Grants
Undergraduate or graduate students working or studying in a developing nation are eligible to apply for travel grants to attend FiO or an OSA-managed topical meeting. Travel grants average $1,000 USD per award.

The 2011 Travel Grant recipients were: 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; and Mehdi Yuce, KoC University, Turkey.

Details on criteria and selection for all OSAF scholarships, grants and awards are available at http://www.osa-foundation.org/awards-honors/studentrecognitions.

The OSA Foundation (OSAF) was established in 2002 to support philanthropic activities that help further the OSA's mission by concentrating its efforts on programs that advance youth science education, provide optics and photonics education to underserved populations, provide career and professional development resources, and support awards and 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 from OSA. For more information, visit www.osa-foundation.org.

GRACE KLONOSKI is the senior director, Foundation, Membership & Education Services for the Optical Society of America, 2010 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20036; e-mail: [email protected]; www.osa-foundation.org.