College News

Among those to be recognized at the I-Squared Awards & Expo Event is Ashlesha Patil, graduate student in the Wyant College of Optical Sciences and researcher in the NSF-ERC Center for Quantum Networks. Ashlesha was selected as Student Innovator of the Year for her work developing a computer game that teaches measurement-based quantum computation through using tangrams – puzzles where users have to fit together flat polygons.

The Mexican science agency has named its largest optics library in Latin America after world-renowned Slovenian astrophysicist and engineer Marija Strojnik, alumna of Wyant College of Optical Sciences (OSC, PhD 1980). Part of the Mexican Optics Research Centre (CIO), the library, which houses the largest optics collection in Latin America, now pays tribute to Strojnik's research achievements.

The Wyant College of Optical Sciences namesake, James C. Wyant, was recognized as a new Honorary Member of Optica on August 29th, 2023. Thomas L. Koch, Dean & Professor of the Wyant College of Optical Sciences, said of the honor, "Jim has contributed in so many ways to the field of Optics and Photonics. This is a wonderful recognition of his tremendous impact. Congratulations, Jim!"

Scholarship recipients and donors came together with Wyant College of Optical Sciences staff and faculty to celebrate the 2023 scholarship awards ceremony, which took place on Sept. 15, 2023.  Dr. Jack Jewell (OSC MS 1981 & PhD 1984) and donor to the Jack Jewell Extreme Optics Graduate Student Research Award and the Jack Lee Jewell Endowed Chair in Optical Sciences, was the program’s keynote speaker. Congratulations to all student awardees!

Welcome back, students! We're glad you're here. The Student Optics Club, SOCk, hosted an amazing (and delicious) BBQ thanks to the support of ASML. Students and college faculty and staff had the opportunity to mingle and enjoy the start of another school year. Welcome back and let's make it the best year yet!

Wyant College is pleased to welcome a new baby boy, born to Anna Willomitzer and Prof. Florian Willomitzer. Baby Carl was born mid-May to the family. Also, Big Brother, Fritz, was thrilled to welcome a new playmate. Congratulations Willomitzer family!

It is with great excitement the Wyant College of Optical Sciences shares the release of a newly created Recruitment Video produced by the brilliant minds of current optics students. Undergraduate students, Logan Pawlowski, Sebastian Magri, Dani Balicki, Evan Brorby, and Max Duque worked to create the video from the ground up.

SPIE has announced the newly elected officials to the SPIE leadership team, which now includes Prof. Daewook Kim, of the Wyant College of Optical Sciences. Prof. Kim was elected as one of four new Society Directors. He will serve a three-year term with SPIE from 2024-2026. Prof. Kim says of the honor, "Thank you for letting me represent you on the SPIE Board of Directors. Let’s work together, take care of each other, and make it happen." Congratulations, Prof. Kim!

Synopsys, a developer of the industrial standard optical design software, CODEV, recently announced the winners of the Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Optical Design Competition 2023. The Wyant College of Optical Sciences undergraduate team, Carolyn Hokin, Shriniketh Sreevatsan, Adam Wan, Yiran Xie and Mina Yoo won the top award. The team, a group of classmates in their senior year at the Wyant College, received an award for their OPTI340 final optical design project, titled “Compact Relay for Image Steering in Augmented Reality."