SPIE has announced the winners of this year's SPIE awards. The society aims to recognise outstanding achievements in the field of photonics through its annual awards programme.
This year, the gold medal went to Charles H. Townes, of the University of California, Berkeley, in recognition of his extraordinary foresight in recognising 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. The gold medal is the highest honour that 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.
A full list of the recipients of this years awards is available on SPIE's own website.
