News

Bernadette T. Donovan-Merkert has been named interim dean of the College of Science, one of two colleges created from the reorganization of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, effective immediately. The name of the college is pending final approval from the Board of Trustees. “This reorganization moves us closer to our goal of serving […]

Two new colleges have formed from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, creating new pathways for student and research success — the College of Science and the College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences. The colleges’ names are pending approval from the Board of Trustees at its next meeting. “These two focused colleges allow each to […]

The Department of Physics and Optical Science is currently seeking two new faculty members to join our team as professors; we are currently seeking candidates who possess a Ph.D. or equivalent degree in optical science, optical engineering, physics, or another closely related field. Preferred candidates will have a significant record of research and publication and […]

The research of Associate Professor Dr. Menelaos Poutous has recently been highlighted by The International Society for Optics and Photonics due to the valuable insights it offers surrounding the fabrication of diffraction gradings. The paper, published by Dr. Poutous and Dr. Hanshin Lee of the University of Texas at Austin in October of this year, […]

In the recently released 2023 Times Higher Education World University rankings, Charlotte climbed 33 spots among U.S. universities. The results are regarded as one of the leading national and international university rankings focused on research and academic excellence. “Charlotte’s strategic plan outlines a new vision for the University as a nationally recognized top-tier research university, […]

The UNC Charlotte Department of Physics and Optical Science would like to express its utmost gratitude to John Edwards for his generous donation of a Meade telescope, and to his daughter, Lesley Edwards, for working with our team to bring the telescope to campus. Mr. Edwards’ telescope will be utilized by students in the Introduction […]

Grad Student Paige Stinson recieved the AVS MEMS/NEMS TG Best Research Work Award for her presentation: “One-Dimensional Photonic Crystals with Narrow-Band Defect Modes Fabricated by Direct Laser Writing,” by Victoria P. Stinson, M. McLamb, and T. Hofmann. Paige will be presenting this talk at the AVS 68th International Symposium & Exhibition November 6-11, 2022 in […]

Two graduates from the UNC Charlotte Optical Science and Engineering Ph.D. program have recently been included among thirty-three recipients of the Department of Defense’s Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Seed Grants. Joel Solomon and Jonathan Koerber, who both graduated this past spring, received the prestigious award in August for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023. […]

Saturday, September 24th – Faculty, staff, and graduate students from the UNC Charlotte Department of Physics and Optical Science gathered at the Boreman Family Farm in Salisbury to celebrate good food, good times, and good company. About sixty attendees enjoyed the Southern barbecue catered by local joint The Smoke Pit, in addition to visiting with […]

You’re invited! On Thursday, September 15th, at 2:00 p.m., Charlotte alum Dr. Nikita Nikulsin will be returning to campus to speak at a special colloquium in Grigg 133. The event is being hosted by Dr. Jacobs, Director of the Physics Undergraduate Mentoring Program (PUMP), and all departmental students and faculty are invited to attend. Free […]

Congratulations to Luke DeMars, a Ph.D. student in optical science and engineering here at UNC Charlotte, who has recently been awarded the Synopsys 2022 Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Optical Design Award for his project titled, “Optical modeling of generalized mid-spatial-frequency surface errors.” As the Synopsys blog writes, DeMars “used CODE V to model and predict […]

Congratulations to Dr. Raja for being promoted as a SPIE fellow. Brent Johnson (SPIE Member Recognition Coordinator) sent a congratulatory email message on behalf of the SPIE Board of Directors and Fellows Committee on Dec. 22nd, 2021 that Dr. M. Yasin Akhtar Raja has been elected to the grade of Fellow of SPIE among 58 […]

Scott Williams has been recognized by the Laser and Photonics labs of Central Carolina Community College (CCCC) for being a founding CCCC laser program advisor, thus providing valuable advice and direction during the first meeting which set the stage for changing the focus of study for the laser program from fiber optics laser applications to […]

Dear alumni, faculty, and students, You are invited to the 1st “Optics Alumni Meetup” on Friday, December 10th, from 3:00 to 4:30 PM EST on Zoom. This meeting is planned to re-establish the network between faculty, students, and alumni. We will hear from the optics department’s chair, faculty, and alumni; and get to see where […]

Congratulations to our graduate students for these wonderful achievements! 1) Sara Moein was selected as a winner of the 2021 Synopsys Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Optical Design Competition! More information can be found at the following links: https://www.synopsys.com/optical-solutions/learn/competition.htmlhttps://blogs.synopsys.com/optical-solutions/2021/08/25/2021-robert-s-hilbert-memorial-optical-design-competition-results/ 2) Shohreh Shadalou was named the Student Winner for the Illumination section of the International Optical Design […]

The Center for Metamaterials just received its award letter for a third five-year phase from National Science Foundation. This is an Industry/University Collaborative Research Center (I/UCRC), which is supported by annual fees from companies, who vote on projects proposed by the faculty. Their financial support typically goes toward student stipends and tuition and is a […]

We would like to congratulate Dr. Rosario Porras-Aguilar for receiving the NSF Career Project award for “Smart Imaging and Metrology Enabled by Liquid Crystals”. The grant is $500,000 through 2026. She was recently recognized as Cottrell Scholar in physics for her research in “Label-Free Reconfigurable Microscopy with High Specificity.” Porras-Aguilar also is co-principal investigator for […]

We would like to congratulate our multiple departmental faculty Dr. Ishwar Aggarwal, Dr. Vasily Astratov, Dr. Glenn Boreman, Dr. Nate Fried, Dr. Greg Gbur, Dr. Tsing-Hua Her, and Dr. Robert Tyson (emeritus) for being named in Stanford University’s latest list representing the top 2% of the world’s most-cited researchers.