Volker Sorger, an associate professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, was recently elected a 2022 Fellow by two leading societies in optics and photonics.
On Jan. 5, SPIE welcomed 58 new members, including Sorger, to the society. According to the SPIE announcement, “fellows are members of distinction who have made significant scientific and technical contributions in the multidisciplinary fields of optics, photonics and imaging.”
Previously, on Nov. 18, 2021, OPTICA (formerly OSA) elected Sorger a Fellow, which is “based on several factors, including distinguished contributions to education, research, engineering, business and serving the community.” OPTICA’s 2022 Fellows Class comprised 106 new members from 24 countries. The laudation shares that this distinction is “for outstanding innovations in the research and development of opto-electronic and nanophotonic devices, and for community leadership.”
“It’s a true honor to join my fellow colleagues with both of these distinctions,” Sorger said. “Pioneering optoelectronic devices has pushed optical innovations that are so critical in this 21st century, and there is much to innovate yet in photonics, AI and computing. Onwards it is!”
Sorger directs the Devices & Intelligent Systems Laboratory at GW. His research focuses on devices and optoelectronics, AI/ML accelerators, mixed-signal ASICs, quantum matter & quantum processors and cryptography. He’s received multiple awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research’s Young Investigator Research Program Award. In 2020, Sorger co-founded the deep-tech venture company, Optelligence.
In remarks congratulating the new Fellows, OPTICA’s 2021 President Connie Chang-Hasnain said: “These members exemplify what it means to be a leader in optics and photonics … Thank you for your dedication to Optica, and for advancing the science of light.”
Likewise, Michelle Stock, Chair of the SPIE Fellows Committee, noted: “SPIE Fellows represent the breadth of our global constituency as well as the technical range, diversity, and ethos of our Society ... With our 58 new inductees, we recognize and celebrate the innovative technologies and scientific breakthroughs developed and generated across the optics and photonics industry by our Fellow Members in academia, industry, and government, as well as their long-term contributions to SPIE."