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2025 Adolph Lomb Medal Winner

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Optica Names Peter McMahon the 2025 Adolph Lomb Medal Recipient

Optica is pleased to announce that Peter McMahon, Cornell University, USA, has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the Adolph Lomb Medal. McMahon is honored for demonstrating new forms of optical-physics-based computing machines, that surpass the standard von Neumann computers that we are all familiar with

McMahon is an Assistant Professor of Applied & Engineering Physics at Cornell University, where he has been since 2019. He received his PhD in Electrical Engineering and his postdoctoral training in Applied Physics at Stanford University. McMahon's lab at Cornell studies computing with physical systems, both classical and quantum. In their investigations of classical systems, they aim to re-think the development of computers from the ground up, seeking to engineer new forms of computers that can operate at the speed and energy limits of what physics allows, with a focus on special-purpose analog computers for machine learning and optimization.

Some of their research results include the development and demonstration of training methods for physical systems, including optical systems, to act as physical neural networks; the investigation of the ultimate limits to optical energy consumption in optical neural networks; optical neural networks as preprocessors for image-sensing systems; and the development of 2D-programmable optical waveguides for neural networks and for light manipulation more generally. They have also begun a recent thrust to develop unconventional nanoelectronic neural networks that borrow ideas from their work on optical neural networks. In quantum experiments, they work with both optics and microwaves, and study special-purpose quantum computers, and the marriage of quantum computing with quantum sensing in the pursuit of quantum computational-sensing advantage.

McMahon has been awarded Packard and Sloan Fellowships, an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Program Award, a Google Quantum Research Award, and was selected as a CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar in Quantum Information Science

Established in 1940, the Lomb Medal is presented to an individual who has made a noteworthy contribution to optics at an early career stage. Contributions from any area of optics, fundamental or applied, are considered. The medal honors Adolph Lomb, the Society’s first treasurer, for his devotion to the Society and the advancement of optics.

About Optica

Optica, Advancing Optics and Photonics Worldwide, is the society dedicated to promoting the generation, application, archiving and dissemination of knowledge in the field. Founded in 1916, it is the leading organization for scientists, engineers, business professionals, students and others interested in the science of light. Optica’s renowned publications, meetings, online resources and in-person activities fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate scientific, technical and educational achievement.

 

Photo Credit: Dave Burbank

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