Alfano Awarded Laser Science Prize

Robert Alfano, distinguished professor of science and engineering at The City College of New York, has been awarded the 2013 Arthur L. Schawlow Prize in Laser Science by the American Physical Society (APS).

Alfano was recognized for his pioneering contributions to the field of ultrafast laser science, including the discovery of supercontinuum generation and laser materials, as well as for the study of pulse propagation in strongly scattering media.

The prize honors outstanding contributions to basic research using lasers to advance knowledge of the fundamental physical properties of materials and their interaction with light.

Alfano also is the recipient of the first Britton Chance Biomedical Optics Award, honoring his pioneering contributions to optical methods for biology or medicine (See: Alfano First Recipient of Britton Chance Award), the Optical Society’s Charles Hard Townes Award in 2008 for his white-light supercontinuum discovery (See: Robert Alfano Awarded for Supercontinuum Work), and the Coherent-Biophotonics Lifetime Achievement Award in Biomedical Optics from the Society of Photo-Instrumentation Engineers in 2002. He recently received an inaugural CCNY President’s Award for Excellence.

He will receive the latest award — a $10,000 stipend endowed by information technology and network solutions company NEC Corp. — in October at the APS Division of Laser Science and OSA annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.

For more information, visit: www.ccny.cuny.edu