2024 R. W. Wood Prize Winner

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Optica Names Rick Trebino the 2024 R.W. Wood Prize Recipient

Optica is pleased to announce that Rick Trebino, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA has been selected as the 2024 recipient of the R.W. Wood Prize. Trebino is honored for his invention and development of techniques for the ever more complete and rigorous measurement of ultrashort light pulses, which have enabled a wide range of new applications across many fields.

Trebino received his PhD from Stanford University, USA. He is currently the Eminent Scholar Chair of Ultrafast Optical Physics at Georgia Tech. Previously, he was at Sandia National Laboratories, USA.

His award-winning research involves developing techniques for measuring light with ever shorter and more complex ultrafast temporal and microscopic spatial variations. He is best known for frequency-resolved optical gating, the first technique—and still the gold standard—for measuring arbitrary ultrashort pulses in time. Trebino’s more recent inventions have extended measurement capability to the complete spatiotemporal electromagnetic field of even highly complex ultrashort pulses. Also, coincidentally, like R.W. Wood, he has investigated scientific self-deception, particularly in pulse measurement. In addition to his research contributions, he is an outstanding educator and freely provides his elegant, entertaining, and fully narrated multimedia entire-course video lectures to the world via his web site to encourage the creation and dissemination of free high-quality video lectures in academia in general.

Trebino has received numerous prizes for his pioneering contributions to optics and physics and education, including the Esther Beller Hoffman Medal. He is a Fellow of Optica, the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and SPIE.

Established in 1975, the Wood Prize recognizes an outstanding discovery, scientific or technical achievement or invention in the field of optics. The accomplishment is measured chiefly by its impact on the field of optics and is one that opens a new era of research or significantly expands an established one. It honors the many contributions that R.W. Wood made to optics, and is endowed by Xerox Corp.

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.