OSA Names Wolfgang Osten the 2019 Emmett N. Leith Medal Recipient

The Optical Society (OSA) has named Wolfgang Osten, of the University of Stuttgart in Germany, the 2019 Emmett N. Leith Medal recipient for extending the limits of optical metrology by integrating digital image processing with modern optical measurement techniques.

Osten’s research work is focused on new concepts for industrial inspection and metrology by combining modern principles of optical metrology, sensor technology, and digital image processing. Special attention is directed to the development of digital optical technologies such as digital holography and resolution-enhanced technologies for the investigation of micro- and nanostructures.

Ursula Gibson, OSA president, said Osten “richly deserves recognition” for his work in industrial inspection and metrology.

“Working at the frontier of optical metrology, Wolfgang Osten has brought new concepts to industrial inspection and metrology,” she said.

Osten received a MSc/Diploma in physics from the Friedrich-Schiller-University in 1979. From 1979 to 1984, he was a member of the Institute of Mechanics, working in the field of experimental stress analysis and optical metrology. He received a Ph.D. from the Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg for his thesis in the field of holographic interferometry.

From 1984 to 1991, Osten was employed at the Central Institute of Cybernetics and Information Processes ZKI, making investigations in digital image processing and machine vision. Between 1988 and 1991, he was head of the Institute for Digital Image Processing at the ZKI. He joined the Bremen Institute of Applied Beam Technology (BIAS) to establish and to direct the Optical 3D Metrology department.

From September 2002 until October 2018, Osten was full professor at the University of Stuttgart, and director of the Institute for Applied Optics. From 2006 to 2010, he was the vice rector for research and technology transfer at the university.

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