Recipient selection is administered by the Technical Field Awards Council of the IEEE Awards Board. For more information, please visit: https://corporate-awards.ieee.org/corporate-awards/#field-award.
Presented to: An Individual or a team of not more than three
Scope: For outstanding achievements in photonics
Prize: A bronze medal, Certificate and Cash Honorarium
Basis for judging: In the evaluation process, the following criteria are considered: outstanding discovery, significant scientific or technological advancement, important invention, impact on field, and the quality of the nomination.
We are proud to recognize and celebrate honorees of the IEEE Photonics Award.
David Richardson, 2025For contributions to fiber lasers, fiber telecommunications, and hollow-core optical fibers.
David Richardson is a pioneering figure in photonics. Best known for his work on optical fibers and their applications, he has played a leading role in improving the data-carrying capacity of optical communication networks and has also extended the performance limits of fiber lasers, contributing to their commercial success and making them strong competitors to conventional lasers. Richardson co-founded SPI Lasers in 2000, which successfully commercialized high-power fiber laser systems before being acquired by Trumpf GmbH in 2008. In 2017, Richardson co-founded Lumenisity, focusing on revolutionary hollow-core fibers (HCFs) that enable 50% faster signal transmission speeds than traditional solid-core fibers. Lumenisity quickly became a world leader in HCF development, leading to its acquisition by Microsoft in 2022.
An IEEE Fellow, Richardson is a Partner Researcher, Microsoft, Romsey, United Kingdom.
| Year | Award Winner | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Kim Roberts | For leadership in the introduction and development of digital coherent signal processing for optical fiber transmissions systems. |
| 2023 | Roel Baets | For pioneering research in integrated photonics, including silicon, silicon-nitride, III-V devices, and their heterogeneous integration. |
| 2022 | Rodney S. Tucker | For contributions to photonic device modelling and bridging the gap between device and system-level performance, including energy consumption. |
| 2021 | Jack Jewell | For seminal and sustained contributions to the development and commercialization of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSEL). |
| 2020 | Christopher R. Doerr | For sustained pioneering research, development, and commercialization of photonic integrated circuits and devices for telecommunications. |
| 2019 | Michal Lipson | For pioneering contributions to silicon photonics. |
| 2018 | Ursula Keller | For seminal contributions to ultrafast laser technology enabling important industrial applications and novel scientific breakthroughs. |
| 2017 | John Bowers | For pioneering research in silicon photonics, including hybrid silicon lasers, photonic integrated circuits, and ultra-lowloss waveguides. |
| 2016 | Mark E. Thompson | For scientific and technical leadership in the conception, demonstration, and development of phosphorescent materials in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays. |
| 2015 | Philip St. John Russell | For pioneering contributions to the conception and realization of photonic crystal fibers. |
| 2014 | James G. Fujimoto | For pioneering the development and commercialization of optical coherence tomography for medical diagnostics. |
| 2013 | Peter F. Moulton | For the discovery of the Ti: Sapphire laser and the development of many novel solidstate laser systems and applications. |
| 2012 | Eli Yablonovitch | For pioneering contributions to photonic crystals, the photonic bandgap and photonic bandgap engineering. |
| 2011 | Amnon Yariv | “For fundamental contributions to photonics science, engineering and education that have broadly impacted quantum electronics and lightwave communications. |
| 2010 | Ivan P. Kaminow | For seminal contributions to electro-optic modulation, integrated optics, and semiconductor lasers, and leadership in optical telecommunications. |
| 2009 | Robert L. Byer | For seminal contributions to nonlinear optics and solid-state lasers for commercial applications from precision measurement to manufacturing. |
| 2008 | Joseph C. Campbell | For seminal and sustained contributions to the development of high-speed, low-noise long wavelength avalanche photodiodes. |
| 2007 | David Neil Payne | For pioneering contributions to the development and commercialization of optical fiber-based technologies for communications, sensors, and high power applications. |
| 2006 | Frederick J. Leonberger | For technical leadership, commercialization and practical deployment of photonic component technologies for optical communications. |
| 2005 | Rod C. Alferness | For seminal contributions to enabling photonics technologies and for visionary leadership in their application to networks and systems. |
| 2004 | Tingye Li | For seminal contributions to enabling photonics technologies and for visionary leadership in their application to networks and systems. |
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