Although great science and engineering breakthroughs often occur by chance, developing the individuals who make those discoveries requires steady support and guidance. As optics students transition from undergraduate to graduate programs and on into their careers, the OSA Foundation (OSAF) is there to provide milestone opportunities to hone both scientific knowledge and career-building skills. This issue of the newsletter highlights some of the many OSA Foundation (OSAF) programs that support the field’s future leaders and innovators. We’re so impressed by the achievements of these students---and hope you will be too!
To ensure its activities continue and grow, the OSA Foundation conducts an Annual Campaign. Your support of this effort directly benefits optics students around the world through travel grants, recognition, scholarships and much more. To contribute to the campaign online, please visit our secure Website: www.osa-foundation.org.
Donations help students like Yasaman Soudagar, a doctoral candidate at Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal. Using OSAF grants she has shown students the fun they can have with optics and its importance in everyday life.
Yasaman is also a past president of her university's OSA Student Chapter and has benefited from the wide range of career development programming the OSAF provides to chapter members. She believes these opportunities were crucial to building her confidence and improving her communication, technical and leadership skills. To learn more about Yasaman visit the OSAF web site at www.osa-foundation.org.
With your help, we can make a lasting difference in the lives of optics students as they build their careers and improve the world through their optics innovations and leadership.
As has been the case since the Foundation was established in 2002, every donation is matched 100% by the Optical Society of America's contributions to the OSAF General Fund. OSA's commitment to the Foundation and its matching program is here to stay, so your gift will continue to make twice the difference!
Please join with us today in making the 2011 Annual Appeal a success. With your help we can close the year with record-breaking member support and continue OSAF’s work of preparing the next generation of leaders and innovators.
Special Book Offer Benefits OSAF
Earlier this fall long-time volunteer leader, advisor and generous OSA
and OSAF supporter Milton Chang provided the Foundation with 1,000 copies of his new book, Toward Entrepreneurship: Establishing a Successful Technology Business. Dr. Chang is donating all proceeds from sales of these copies to the OSAF General Fund and OSA is matching each sale 100 percent.
Toward Entrepreneurship: Establishing a Successful Technology
Business is based on Dr. Chang’s personal experiences. It covers all facets of starting and managing a company from finding an idea to selling the business. And as Dr. Chang says, “It promises to save you many sleepless nights.”
We thank Dr. and Mrs. Chang for their continued support of OSA and OSAF. Over the years programs such as the Incubic Milton Chang
Travel Grant Program have benefited hundreds of students.
We were honored to have Milton Chang as a special guest at the OSA Foundation Breakfast. Please click here to enjoy the new OSAF video, featuring Milton’s candid Q&A session with the OSAF Breakfast attendees.
Orders may still be placed online by visiting www.osa-foundation.org. You can purchase Toward Entrepreneurship for a $20 (USD) minimum donation or more if you like, for a limited time. There is no additional charge for shipping. As books are shipped via media mail, please allow an additional two to three weeks for delivery.
If you are interested in adding the book to your curriculum, please contact us to discuss group purchase options.
For more information about the book, visit http://www.osa-foundation.org/bookoffer
|
Activity and Youth Education Grants
The OSA provides a wide variety of grants for OSA Student Chapters and Local Sections. Activity Grants support professional development efforts that help students build technical skills and their network of colleagues around the world. Youth Education Grants fund programs that enable Chapters and Sections to promote science learning by working directly with grade school students. In 2011, 34 grants totaling $22K were conferred. These efforts benefited thousands of students around the globe!
|
|
Robert E. Hopkins Leadership Award
|
|
Thanks to the tireless efforts of Chuck Synborski, Chair of OSA’s Corporate Associates Committee, the Robert E. Hopkins Leadership Award Endowment Campaign came to a successful conclusion in just six months. More than $100K was raised; which enabled the permanent endowment of the OSA Leadership Award which has been renamed “The Robert E. Hopkins Leadership Award” in honor of Dr. Hopkins’ many contributions to the field as well as his lasting and positive impact on colleagues and the community at large.
|
A special thank you to Chuck and to the donors who made this honor possible:
CVI Melles Griot, Semrock, and ATFilms, Units of IDEX Corporation, Institute of Optics, Sydor Optics Inc., Corning Inc., Hellma USA Incorporate, IPG Photonics Corp., LaCroix Optical Co., Bill Mimmack, G. Michael Morris, Charles and Judith Munnerlyn, Jannick and Kevin Rolland-Thompson, u2t Photonics AG, James C. Wyant, James Fienup, Edmund Optics, Lambda Research Corporation, Optimax Systems, Inc., Prof. James A. & Mrs. Gail Eyer, Duncan Moore, Matthew Rimmer and Brian J. Thompson.
The Leadership Award, established in 1997 with the support of Milton Chang and New Focus, honors those who have strengthened the link between the optics community and the public. Given annually, the award recognizes individuals or groups that have had a significant impact on the global optics and photonics community or an individual or group from the optics and photonics community which has had a significant impact on society as a whole stemming from non-research oriented activities.
|
Scholarship and Travel Grants Winners Recognized at Frontiers in Optics ‘11
Delivering presentations at technical conferences is a critical step in a student’s career not only from the knowledge and experience gained, but also from a networking perspective. These activities enable young people to establish and build relationships with colleagues from around the world.
In 2011 OSAF awarded over $45,000 to 45 students through travel grants, scholarships and paper competitions. The following 26 students attended the OSA Annual Meeting/Frontiers in Optics, thanks to the generosity of OSAF donors. Please enjoy our video re-cap of the OSA Foundation Breakfast, including award presentations!
Jean Bennett Memorial Student Travel Grant
Micha Nixon, Weizman Institute of Science in Israel
|
During the 2011 Frontiers in Optics Conference, Nixon presented three research papers: “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.”
|
|
|
The Bennett Grant was established in memory of Jean M. Bennett, OSA’s first female president and a decorated research physicist renowned for her contributions to the studies of optical surfaces. Dr. Bennett was a steadfast leader and a great mentor and advocate for students. The grant is made possible through the support of Nanoptek Corporation, the Pennsylvania State University Department of Physics, and individual contributors.
Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Student Travel Grants
Sergio Carbajo, Colorado State University
Ying Geng,University of Rochesterr
|
During the 2011 Frontiers in Optics Conference,During the 2011 Frontiers in Optics Conference, Carbajo presented “Movies of Nanoscale Dynamics Using Soft X-ray Laser Illumination, ” and Geng described “High Resolution Imaging of the Living Mouse Eye: A Model for Retinal Diseases.”
|
|
|
Optical Research Associates, now the Optical Solutions Group at Synopsys generously established the Hilbert Memorial Student Travel Grants program in 2009 as a memorial to their former President and CEO Robert S. Hilbert. These grants are awarded for research excellence in the areas of optical engineering, lens design and illumination design.
Emil Wolf Outstanding Student Paper Competition
Seven students were named Emil Wolf Outstanding Student Paper Competition winners this year. Established in 2008, the competition was created in honor of Professor Wolf’s many contributions to science and the OSA. The competition recognizes the innovation and excellence of student research presented at Frontiers in Optics (FiO). Each FiO Technical Subcommittee is invited to select one winner based on their presentation during the meeting. 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.
|
|
OSA Foundation Travel Grant Winners
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 Su
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 Svyakhovskiy
Moscow State University
Russian Federation
Mehdi Yuce
KoC University
Turkey
|
|
|
OSAF AND WORKPLACE GIVING CAMPAIGNS
Federal employees can now donate directly to OSAF through the Combined Federal Campaign.
OSAF’s CFC number is: 55906. However, if you are not a federal employee, please check with your employer’s Human Resources or Community Relations Department to see if there is an Employee Matching program through your company.
http://www.osa-foundation.org/give
|
|
The 2011 Wolf winners are:
Submission Category: Optical Design, Fabrication and Instrumentation
Fiona Kenny, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland
Paper Title: Vectorial polarimeter using an inhomogeneous polarization state generator
Submission Category: Optical Sciences
Alexander Buck, Max-Planck-Institute für Quantenoptik, Germany
Paper Title: Tunable Laser-Driven Electron Acceleration via Shock Front Injection
Submission Category: Optics in Information Science
Lei Tian, Massachusetts Institue of Technology, USA
Paper Title: Compressive phase space tomography
Submission Category: Fiber Optics and Optical Communications
Ria Becker, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Germany
Paper Title: Observation of Spectral Gouy Shift in Large Cross-Section Fiber Bragg Gratings
Submission Category: Integrated Photonics
Arash Joushaghani, University of Toronto, Canada
Paper Title: Ultra-low Energy Optical Self- Amplitude and Phase Modulation in Gold Nano-Apertures
Submission Category: Quantum Electronics
Sylvanus Lee, Boston University, USA
Paper Title: Isotropic Structural Color of Nanostructured Metal Surfaces
Submission Category: Vision and Color
Thomas Kohlgraf-Owens, University of Central Florida, USA
Paper Title: Imaging Spectroscopy without a Spectrometer
Harvey M. Pollicove Memorial Scholarship
Nea Sample, Monroe Community College
This award honors optics manufacturing pioneer Harvey Pollicove and is given annually to an outstanding student pursuing a degree in precision optics manufacturing.
The H.M. Pollicove Memorial Fund was established in 2005 through contributions from Harvey Pollicove’s friends and colleagues to recognize his work in the field of precision optics manufacturing. The OSA Foundation partnered with the fund to establish the scholarship in 2008. The $4,000 annual award rotates among participating academic institutions, which include the University of Arizona, the University of Central Florida and the University of Rochester. The H.M. Pollicove Memorial Scholarship Advisory Committee reviews scholarship applications and provides input to the host academic institution. The host academic institution makes the final selection of the scholarship winner and the OSA Foundation distributes the award.
|
|
Remembering Tony Siegman
Recently, we lost an optics leader and our very dear friend Tony Siegman.
In addition to his amazing professional life and many, many scientific contributions, Tony diligently served as an OSA leader; the outcome of his efforts can be seen in the strength of our publications, meetings, member services and in our culture of inclusiveness.
Tony was the OSA President in 1999 and he graciously agreed to help OSA with the establishment of the OSA Foundation. He served on the Foundation Board of Directors from 2003 to 2008 and continued to support and advise us in the years that followed.
Just last year, he delivered lectures around the world in support of LaserFest, the 50-year anniversary of the laser. The scientific community will truly miss and will never forget Tony.
|
OSAF announces the endowment fund campaign for
The Siegman International Summer School on Lasers
Teaching was one of Tony Siegman’s passions. In 2011, he was instrumental in establishing a joint summer school program with the Changchun Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (CIOMP) in Changchun, China. More than 100 students from 13 countries attended the inaugural session held August 31-September 5, 2011 on the Changchun Institute campus. Students participated in lectures, poster presentations, networking sessions and other research sharing opportunities.
The success of the 2011 summer school was largely due to Tony’s personal involvement –this was his last OSA volunteer activity. The OSA Foundation is honored to carry on his work by launching a fundraising campaign in his honor to permanently fund The Siegman International Summer School on Lasers
This School is a fitting way to honor both the tremendous contributions Tony made to the scientific community and his passion for teaching.
We hope that the many individuals who were touched by Tony’s work through his textbooks, lectures, presentations, reviews, and volunteer efforts will contribute to the $1.1 million campaign to permanently fund the summer school. Please visit the OSAF website for information and to make a donation securely on online.
|
