BELLINGHAM, Washington, USA — SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, has announced SPIE Fellow Paul F. McManamon as the 2022 winner of the Joseph W. Goodman Book Writing Award for his 2019 SPIE Press book, LiDAR Technologies and Systems.

Paul F. McManamon is the founder and president of Exciting Technology and the technical director of the Lidar and Optical Communications Institute at the University of Dayton. He previously served as the chief scientist for the US Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), Sensors Directorate.

A recognized leader in his field, McManamon has played an active role in lidar and electro-optics research and development for more than 40 years. He chaired the US National Academy of Sciences study "Laser Radar: Progress and Opportunities in Active Electro-Optical Sensing," and co-chaired the study "Optics and Photonics, Essential Technologies for Our Nation," which recommended the National Photonics Initiative. He also served as vice-chair of the "Seeing Photons: Progress and Limits of Visible and Infrared Sensor Arrays" study. He was the main lidar expert witness for Uber in the lawsuit vs Google/Waymo.

"I'm thrilled by this decision and proud that another title from SPIE Press has been selected for this very prestigious award," says SPIE Director of Publications and Platform Patrick Franzen. "LiDAR Technologies and Systems is the most comprehensive tome on the subject. The fact that it's been so well-received by the community and is held up as the standard for the industry is not surprising."

McManamon received the SPIE President's Award in 2013 and is a Fellow of AFRL, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Directed Energy Professional Society, IEEE, the Military Sensing Symposia, and Optica. McManamon was president of SPIE in 2006.

McManamon's first book, Field Guide to Lidar, was published by SPIE Press in 2015.

The Joseph W. Goodman Book Writing Award, a biennial award co-sponsored by SPIE and Optica, recognizes authorship of an outstanding book in the field of optics and photonics, published within the last six years, that has contributed significantly to research, teaching, or industry. It was established in 2005 and is funded by Joseph and Hon Mai Goodman.

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