Florida Tech Professor Named to OSA Senior Members Class
Brian Lail, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Florida Tech, was recently named to The Optical Society (OSA) Senior Members class of 2018. The distinction honors individuals in the field of optics and photonics for their professional accomplishments.
The OSA approved 169 new members from colleges and universities in the U.S. and around the world. Members receive special recognition, including announcements in Optics & Photonics News and the OSA Member e-newsletter, as well as a certificate, lapel pin and letter of recognition. To qualify for senior membership, individuals must have a minimum of 10 years of significant professional experience in the field, an active OSA membership and two endorsements from fellow members. The qualifications are then reviewed by the OSA Board of Directors before a decision is made.
“The Optical Society welcomes this year’s Senior Class and congratulates these members for their contributions to our global community,” Ian Walmsley, 2018 president of The Optical Society and pro-vice-chancellor for research and innovation, Hooke Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Oxford in England, said in a statement. “The 2018 class joins a distinguished group of scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs and innovators who have demonstrated exemplary professional accomplishments in optics and photonics.”
Lail was a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) recipient, the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers, and has conducted important research during his time at Florida Tech. That has included work to advance optical-antenna-coupled detector technology to enable next-generation infrared focal-plane imaging arrays and serving as primary investigator of a study on the design of impedance-matched infrared antennas using optical vector near-field mapping, which produced the first publication of empirically determined optical antenna input impedance and could lead to more reliable, sensitive and responsive infrared and optical sensing and detection.
“It is an honor to be acknowledged by The Optical Society (OSA) through the distinction of Senior Member status,” Lail said. “OSA is world-renowned as a scientific society dedicated to the advancement of theory and applications in optics and photonics.”
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