International awards for shining lights

17 Jun 2002

Optical scientists working against the odds are recognized for their achievements

The International Commission for Optics (ICO) has announced winners of its two awards. The 2000 Galileo Galilei Award has been awarded to Prof. Vladimir P Lukin of the Institute of Atmospheric Optics within the Russian Academy of Sciences, Tomsk, Russia, in recognition of his scientific contributions on light propagation through turbulent media and on adaptive optics and their applications. This award recognizes outstanding contributions to the field of optics achieved under comparatively unfavorable circumstances regarding the economic and social conditions and the access to scientific facilities and sources of information.

Lukin Vladimir received his Diploma in Physics from Tomsk State University (TSU), Tomsk, Russia, in 1970. From 1971 to 1980 he pioneered theory and experiments on optical wave phase fluctuations in a turbulent atmosphere. He obtained his DSc in 1986 at the Institute for Atmospheric Optics (IAO) of the Russian Academy of Sciences and in 1992 was appointed a professor at the Department for Radiophysics (Optical and Electronic Systems), TSU. He is currently director of the Wave Propagation Division at IAO and part-time professor at TSU. His main interests are the application of the optical wave phase fluctuations theory to the design of and algorithms for optical wave phasemeters adapted to atmospheric turbulence.

Dr Arashimid Nahal from the Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences, Zanjan, Iran, and Dr Fernando Perez Quintian from Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina, were joint recipients of the 2000 ICTP/ICO Award, created by the International Center for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy, and the International Commission for Optics, to recognize significant achievements in optics from scientists aged less than 40 and conducting research in developing countries.

Created in 1947, the ICO is part of the International Council of Scientific Unions and aims to contribute on an international basis to the progress and diffusion of knowledge in optics.