IEEE SUM 2023: Student & Young Professional Grantees Honored

SUm Grantees

The IEEE Photonics Society has honored students and young professionals (SYPs) with travel grant opportunities to attend the IEEE Summer Topicals Meeting Series (SUM 2023), in Sicily, Italy.

Students who are pursuing degrees in photonics and optics fields of interest and in early career, up to 15 years post their first degree, were encouraged to apply. The IEEE Photonics Society is committed to providing equal opportunity to all scientists and engineers, inclusive of ethnicity, race, nationality, disability, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, religion, gender, age, and/or personal identity. This program specifically was designed to honor global SYPS, but also help expand their professional networks, gain personalized career insights on hot topics in the field, and receive guidance from senior professionals in photonics.

The following grantees have been honored for: creating international ecosystems for researchers and students to connect; serving as peer reviewers of our Society’s rapid publications; organizing workshops aimed at popularizing science with K-12 STEM youth; leading hands-on “Optics with Matlab” courses; steering International Day of Light lab visits and live LiDAR public displays to lower barriers of photonics understanding; conducting Teacher-in-Service Programs for over 500 teachers in underserved communities; promoting research and the study of physical sciences in developing nations; and providing peer-to-peer mentorship to undergraduate students seeking to enroll in advanced optics studies.

Join the Society in congratulating the grantees, and connect via LinkedIn, ResearchGate, and lab profiles.


Karolina Stefańska, from Wroclaw University of Science and Technology / University of Bourgogne. in Poland and France

Karolina Stefanska

Connor Rowe, from INRS, in Canada

Connor Rowe

Florian Honz, from Austrian Institute of Technology, in Vienna, Austria

Florian Honz

Collins Okon Edet, from Universiti Malaysia Perlis, in Malaysia

Collins Okon Edet

Reinhardt Rading, from Universitat Hamburg, in Germany

Reinhardt Rading

Maryam Abbasi, from University of Ottawa, in Canada

Maryam Abbasi