Faculty News

Wyant College of Optical Sciences, in collaboration with Nanoscribe, invites students worldwide to participate in the Optical Design Competition for 3D Printed Optical Systems. Open to individuals or teams of up to three, this competition challenges participants to create innovative designs using two-photon polymerization (2PP) printing technology. Winners will receive cash prizes, have their designs fabricated, and contribute to advancing optical research. Submissions are due May 1, 2025, with winners announced September 15, 2025.

The Wyant College of Optical Sciences welcomes three new faculty members to the college’s ranks. The incoming faculty bring a diverse collection of exciting research to the college and are looking for students interested in joining their labs. Learn more about Asst. Profs. Weimin Zhou, Yeran Bai and Cris Panda.

Associate Professor Judy Su was selected for the 2025 Class of SPIE Fellows. The society is welcoming 47 new fellows from across the globe. According to SPIE, "Fellows are Members of the Society who have made significant scientific and technical contributions in the multidisciplinary fields of optics, photonics, and imaging. Since the Society's inception in 1955, more than 1,800 SPIE Members have become Fellows."

Shibin Jiang, adjunct research professor of Wyant College of Optical Sciences, was named fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, one of two Arizona faculty members elected for 2024. Jiang has been recognized globally as a pioneer in photonic glasses, fiber amplifiers and lasers, and he holds 52 U.S. patents. His academic contributions include editing 40 books and eight special journal issues and publishing 98 papers in peer-reviewed journals.

A new award of $4.5M is set to fund CHIRP, the CHanneled Infrared Polarimeter, a compact tool that can provide scientists with extremely accurate data essential, and previously unattainable across all conditions, for long-term climate change modeling. Principal Investigator (PI) Meredith Kupinski, associate professor of optical sciences at the Wyant College of Optical Sciences, and Science PI Sylvia Sullivan, assistant professor of chemical and environmental engineering at the College of Engineering, are leading the project as part of NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) Instrument Incubator Program (IIP). NASA Press Release. The Instrument Incubator Program funds novel instruments, like CHIRP, to launch new technologies for future Earth-observing missions focused on pursuing pressing Earth science phenomena.

Associate Professor Euan McLeod was named in the Photonics100 List by Electro Optics, a company dedicated to providing uncompromised, informed commentary and analysis on topics of interest to the global photonics industry. "The Photonics100 celebrates the people who are pushing the photonics industry forward, whether as the inventors, manufacturers, or end users of technology."