News Article
James Coleman honoured with SPIE Technology Achievement Award
He helped to develop a new class of laser for optical fibre pumps using strained compound semiconductors, resulting in a worldwide expansion of fibre optic systems.
James J. Coleman from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, is the 2011 recipient of the SPIE Technology Achievement Award.
He was recognised for his seminal contributions to the methods, designs, and demonstrations of selectively grown discrete and monolithically integrated compound semiconductor lasers and photonic devices.
“I am very familiar with the large body of truly innovative and world-class research that Professor Coleman has produced,” said Joe C. Campbell, Lucien Carr Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Virginia.
“His work to demonstrate the use of strained layer materials in a new class of semiconductor lasers for optical fibre pumps resulted in a worldwide expansion of fibre optic systems owing to the use of fibre amplifiers. It is hard to fully describe the impact of these events on the communications technology, (and) Professor Coleman’s role in these events was essential and pivotal,” he concluded.
Coleman is a member of SPIE, and is a long-time contributor to several SPIE conferences. He served as a conference program committee member for the Active and Passive Optical Components for Communications conference for seven years.
The SPIE Technology Achievement Award is given annually to recognise outstanding technical accomplishment in optics, electro-optics, photonic engineering, or imaging. The recipient(s) shall have contributed significantly to the advancement of one or more of these areas with specific demonstration(s) or application(s). An honorarium of $2,000 will be presented.
