Edmund Optics announces 2014 Educational Award winners

Edmund Optics’ has announced the winners of its 2014 Educational Awards, which acknowledge novel projects involving optics that will have an impact on future applications, and is given annually to undergraduate and graduate programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics at non-profit colleges and universities working on projects involving optics.

More than $85,000 (USD) in Edmund Optics products will be awarded to the Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners in each of the regions: Americas, Asia, and Europe. All remaining finalists will receive a $500 product matching grant to assist in their research while the Normand Edmund Inspiration Award, which is given to the optics program that best embodies the legacy of Norman Edmund, will receive $5,000 in products. The Inspiration Award winner will be given to one of the global finalists during the VISION show on November 5, 2014.

Edmund Optic’s Educational Award team evaluated more than 880 applications to narrow the field down to 45 global finalists with applications ranging from the development of a compact near-infrared dual-channel fluorescence imaging system for image-guided cancer surgery, to designing solutions to assess water quality using high-resolution microscopy.

The 2014 Educational Award winners are as follows:

The Americas

• Gold ($10,000 in EO products): Gang Yao of the University of Missouri, for the development of a small, portable device that screens forneurodevelopmental disorders in young children based on dynamic pupillary light.
• Silver ($7,500 in EO products): Irving Bigio of Boston University, for the development of a minimally invasive, high resolution optical imaging technology, which does not require the use of voltage-sensitive dyes, to image neuronal activation patterns.
• Bronze ($5,000 in EO products): Azer Yalin of Colorado State University, for the development of lightweight, mid-infrared sensors to be deployed on UAVs, which will efficiently locate and quantify methane leaks, in real-time, from oil wells and pipelines playing a critical economic and environmental role.

Europe

• Gold (€7,000 in EO products): Thomas Halfmann of the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany, for the development of optical memories for future high-performance information technologies based on quantum mechanics.
• Silver (€5,000 in EO products): Mikkel Brydegaard, of Lund University, for the development of laser radar for monitoring the atmospheric fauna with a particular interest in in-situ investigation of the billions of insect species.
• Bronze (€3,000 in EO products): Claudio Lazzari of the Université François Rabelais de Tours in France for analyzing the polarization pattern of landscapes and of objects that are attractive to tse-tse flies in Africa to develop traps which are critical in controlling the spread of disease transmitted by insects.

Asia

• Gold ($10,000 in EO products): Masahiro Motosuke of the Tokyo University of Science for research into the advancement of micro-chips for detection of light scattering, which can contribute to the development of compact, portable flow cytometry systems designed for wide scale deployment in developing areas.
• Silver ($7,500 in EO products): Jinmyoung So of the Chonbuk National University in Korea for research into building a system to trap ultrafine particles, optically (~several nm), and cooling the trapped particles down to ground state of light trapping, by applying a cavity cooling method into the system
• Bronze ($5,000 in EO products): Yuen Hong Tsang of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University for the development of a high-resolution fluorescence imaging system used to observe the progressive changes of cancer cells while interacting with multi-functional nanoparticles to demonstrate drug delivery mechanism.

"We continue to be amazed and impressed by the inventive use of optics in these highly technical, life-changing applications," said Kirsten Bjork-Jones, Director of Global Marketing Communications in a press release. "It is very gratifying to contribute to and support these projects and the researchers dedicated to furthering the science of optical innovation."

View more information on the awards.

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