Li Innovation Prize (OFC)
Foundation
Li Innovation Prize (OFC)
Be recognized for research excellence at OFC.
Program Prize
US$3,000
Donate NowFoundation
The Tingye Li Innovation Prize is presented to the author of an exceptional accepted paper to OFC.
Application Information
How To Apply
Submit a paper to OFC and opt into the competition. Learn more on the conference website.
Applicant Requirements
- Have an accepted paper to OFC or a Post Deadline Paper (PDP) and must have "opted in" during the submission process
- Be a current early career member who has received a terminal degree within the last five years or will receive a terminal degree by the application deadline.
- Be responsible for and exhibit innovative ideas in their research
- Agree to let the Optica Foundation use their picture, name and story in program marketing opportunities.
Application Requirements
The submitting author must opt-in to the competition during the regular paper submission process.
If you have questions, please contact apply@optica.org.
2025 Recipient
Masanori Nakamura
NTT Network Innovation Laboratories
For their paper “628 Gb/s Net Bitrate IMDD Transmission Using Ultra-Broadband InP-DHBT-Based Electrical Mixer With Upper-Sideband Gain-Enhanced Mode”
Past Recipients
Josuke Ozaki
NTT Innovative Devices, Japan
For their paper "Net-1.8 Tbps/λ Transmission Enabled by C+L-band InP-based Coherent Driver Modulator"
Benjamin Crockett
INRS, Canada
For their paper "Enhancing the Quantum Correlation of Biophotons via Coherent Energy Redistribution"
Hesham Sakr
Lumenisity Limited, UK
For their paper "Hollow Core NANFs with Five Nested Tubes and Record Low Loss at 850, 1060, 1300 and 1625nm"
Nicolas Fontaine
Nokia Bell Labs, USA
For their paper "Optical mode sorter that converts an optical beam consisting of a bunch of pixels into thousands of Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) modes"
Di Che
Nokia Bell Labs, USA
For their paper "Single-Channel Direct Detection Reception beyond 1 Tb/s"
Eric Numkam Fokoua
University of Southampton, UK
For their paper "Polarization Effects on Thermally Stable Latency in Hollow- Core Photonic Bandgap Fibres"
Benjamin Lee
IBM TJ Watson Research Center, USA
For their paper "FEC-Free 60-Gb/s Silicon Photonic Link Using SiGe-Driver ICs Hybrid-Integrated with Photonics-Enabled CMOS"
Tetsuya Hayashi
Sumitomo Electric, Japan
For their paper "125-μm-cladding Coupled Multi-core Fiber with Ultra-low Loss of 0.158 dB/km and Record-low Spatial Mode Dispersion of 6.1 ps/km1/2"
Kohki Shibahara
NTT, Japan
For their paper "Dense SDM (12-Core × 3-Mode) Transmission Over 527 km With 33.2-ns Mode-Dispersion Employing Low-Complexity Parallel MIMO Frequency-Domain Equalization"
Tae Joon Seok
University of California, Berkeley, USA
For their paper "Silicon photonic switches"
Contributors
This honor is endowed by Alliance Fiber Optic Products, Inc., AT&T, Optica, the IEEE Photonics Society, the IEEE Communications Society, Thorlabs, Inc., the Li family and supporters of the Tingye Li Memorial Fund.
About the Endowment
Established in 2013, the Li Innovation Prize honors the global impact Tingye Li made to laser science and optical fiber communications.
Selection Committee
The recipient is selected by the OFC conference chairs.
