STROBE Awards – STROBE

Congrats to Jessica Ramella-Roman for Being Elected as a 2024 Optica Fellow

October 30, 2023|Optica|

Jessica Ramella-Roman has been elected as a Fellow of Optica for her pioneering contributions to the study of polarized light transport in biological media through experimental and computational approaches.

The Board of Directors of Optica (formerly OSA), Advancing Optics and Photonics Worldwide, recently elected 129 members from 26 countries to the Society’s 2024 Fellow Class. Optica Fellows are selected based on several factors, including outstanding contributions to research, business, education, engineering and service to Optica and our community.

Fellows are Optica members who have served with distinction in the advancement of optics and photonics. The Fellow Members Committee, led by Chair Ofer Levi, University of Toronto, Canada, reviewed 216 nominations submitted by current Fellows. The Committee extends its thanks to all of this year’s nominators and references. As Fellows can account for no more than 10 percent of the total membership, the election process is highly competitive. Candidates are recommended by the Fellow Members Committee and approved by the Awards Council and Board of Directors.

The new Fellows will be honored at Optica conferences and events throughout 2024.

Congrats to Jeremy Thurston for Receiving the Emil Wolf Outstanding Student Paper Award at Frontiers in Optics

October 24, 2023|Optica|

Every year, the Frontiers in Optics conference holds the Emil Wolf Outstanding Student Paper Competition, acknowledging the excellence of students in presenting their work at the conference in both paper and poster form. This year, JILA graduate student Jeremy Thurston of the Murnane and Kapteyn research groups showcased his work in both a paper and presentation titled: “Bright Tunable Ultrafast Deep- and Vacuum-Ultraviolet Harmonic Combs,” which was awarded a prize by the judges for excellence in communication.

“I’m very honored to be selected by the FiO committee for this award and want to extend my congratulations to the many collaborators at JILA and KMLabs that contributed to this work,” stated Thurston about the award. Congratulations, Jeremy!

Congrats to Drew Morrill for Receiving the Colorado Photonics Industry Association Poster Award

October 19, 2023|Colorado Photonics Industry Association|

Drew Morrill’s poster, titled: “High-harmonic generation from a 3 μm wavelength OPCPA,” received an award from the Colorado Photonics Industry Association. The poster illustrates a method to generate soft X-rays using laser arrays. Congratulations, Drew!

Congrats to Daniel Carlson for Receiving the Best Paper Award at Optica International Conference on Advanced Solid State Lasers

October 12, 2023|Optica|

To honor students’ abilities for clear and effective communication in quantum physics, Optica offers a yearly “best paper” award at its International Conference on Advanced Solid State Lasers. This year, JILA graduate student Daniel Carlson was among the list of winners, with his presentation “Carbon K-Edge Soft X-Rays Driven by a 3 µm,1 kHz OPCPA Laser System” winning over the judges. Carlson, who is a researcher in JILA Fellows and University of Colorado Boulder professor Margaret Murnane and Henry Kapteyn, studies the creation of special X-rays using laser systems. Congratulations, Daniel!

Congrats to Ruiming Cao for Receiving best Student Paper Award at the Optica Imaging Congress

September 1, 2023|Optica|

Ruiming Cao received the Best Student Paper Award for his paper titled, “Speckle Structured Illumination of Dynamic Samples with a Neural Space-time Model” at the Optica Imaging Congress this fall. Congratulations, Ruiming!

Congrats to Colum O’Leary for Receiving a Poster Award at the 2023 Molecular Foundry User Meeting

August 21, 2023|The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory|

Dr. Colum O’Leary received a poster award at the annual Molecular Foundry User Meeting at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Colum’s poster was titled, “Visualizing embedded interfaces on the nanoscale via multislice electron ptychography”.

Congrats to Vivian Wall for Receiving an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

August 1, 2023|National Science Foundation|

The NSF GRFP recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported STEM disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited US institutions. The purpose of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) is to ensure the quality, vitality, and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States. GRFP seeks to broaden participation in science and engineering of underrepresented groups, including women, minorities, persons with disabilities, and veterans. The five-year fellowship provides three years of financial support inclusive of an annual stipend of $37,000.

Congrats to Livia Belman-Wells for Receiving an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

August 1, 2023|National Science Foundation|

The NSF GRFP recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported STEM disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited US institutions. The purpose of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) is to ensure the quality, vitality, and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States. GRFP seeks to broaden participation in science and engineering of underrepresented groups, including women, minorities, persons with disabilities, and veterans. The five-year fellowship provides three years of financial support inclusive of an annual stipend of $37,000.

Congrats to Kwabena Bediako for Receiving a Heising-Simons Faculty Fellowship

July 1, 2023|University of California Berkeley|

The Heising-Simons Faculty Fellows Program catalyzes scientific discovery by investing in high-risk, high-reward research directions. The Program supports exceptional faculty working on topics in a diverse set of fields, including astronomy, physics, geology and geophysics, materials sciences (in both physics and engineering), and physical and materials chemistry. Program awards will focus on creative and novel approaches that promise to lead to important scientific breakthroughs contributing to a greater understanding of the universe and its components, from the molecular and atomic to the geological and planetary scales, among other areas. Awards also fund the development of new tools, techniques and measurements that help probe these physical phenomena in new ways.

The Heising-Simons Faculty Fellows awards will be made to two UC Berkeley faculty members each year. Each $1M faculty award will be distributed over a period of five years. All early- and mid-career UC Berkeley faculty regardless of their home department are eligible to apply.

Prof. Bediako’s project is “Manipulating Electron Transfer with Twisted Interfaces”.

Margaret Murnane is Awarded a Honorary Doctorate from the University of Salamanca

June 20, 2023|University of Salamanca, JILA|

Renowned scientist, JILA Fellow, and University of Colorado Boulder professor Margaret Murnane has been granted an honorary doctorate from the prestigious University of Salamanca, recognizing her outstanding contributions to the field of ultrafast laser science. As a trailblazer in her field, Murnane’s groundbreaking research has revolutionized our understanding of light and opened up new avenues for scientific discovery and technological innovation. This esteemed recognition from one of the oldest universities in the world serves as a testament to Murnane’s remarkable achievements and lasting impact on the scientific community.