SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, awarded Jasper Stackawitz the 2025 Teddi C. Laurin Scholarship. Stackawitz earned the distinction, and a $5000 scholarship, in recognition of potential contributions to optics, photonics, or a related field. Stackawitz began his research in photonics with Casey Schwarz, a professor at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa., with a focus on the fabrication and properties of antimony triselenide and Ge2Sb2Te5 thin films and their potential applications in imaging technologies1. Stackawitz developed novel methods for processing glass compositions that significantly enhanced their viability for advanced optical applications. The work led to a publication in SPIE’s Journal of Optical Microsystems, and the authors presented their findings at the 2024 Materials Science and Technology Conference. Jasper Stackawitz was awarded the 2025 Teddi Laurin Scholarship. Courtesy of SPIE. Stackawitz’s current research is focused on the properties of optical phase-change materials. He is leading a nanophotonics project at Stony Brook University’s Garcia Center for Polymers at Engineered Interfaces as he continues his studies. A rising senior at Pennsbury High School in Fairless Hills, Pa., Stackawitz is also completing coursework at Stanford University via dual enrollment as a physics/math double major, and he plans to put the scholarship funding toward this opportunity. As a high school student, Stackawitz established a tutoring program and served as president of the school’s competitive robotics team, which has earned six gold medals during his tenure. Photonics Media partners with SPIE to fund the Teddi C. Laurin Scholarship to raise awareness of optics and photonics and foster growth and success in the photonics industry by supporting students involved in photonics. The scholarship is awarded yearly in memory of Teddi C. Laurin, the founder of Laurin Publishing and Photonics Media. Photonics Spectra spoke with Stackawitz about his pursuits in optics and photonics. What sparked your career path in optics and photonics? A strong general interest in physics led me to take AP Physics 1 and 2 as a high school freshman, and Physics 2 has a chapter that covers optics specifically. I was also a part of our school’s robotics team, so those two things, in combination, intensified my interest in physics. In robotics, I distinctly recall a project where we were trying to characterize underwater objects — anything from fish to coral reefs. We used a light intensity circuit and a camera, among other devices. That project exposed me to real-world engineering applications of optics. When I began to gain an understanding of the theory I was learning, I found the whole field to be very interesting. My mother has a chemistry Ph.D., and through her, I’ve also been exposed to the research process. And I’ve seen the opportunities that research can open up, and where it can bring you on your career path. I’ve also always had an interest in pursuing interests independent of my coursework. I met a professor at Ursinus College, named Casey Schwarz, whose research focuses on photonics exclusively. I reached out via email, and we ended up scheduling a lab tour. Her work, and her lab’s equipment, and the projects that her lab undertakes really clicked. That exposure ultimately led to the launch of the research project that you mentioned earlier. Tell us about your work with phase-change materials? How did it start? How has it developed? The current project builds on previous work that was performed in collaboration with researchers at the University of Central Florida on optical phase-change materials. It is considered a material that can switch between a cluttered state and a crystalline state through an energy transfer. These materials exhibit major contrasts in their optical properties, like refractive index, for example. And so, you have these materials where a small amount of energy is able to completely change how it interacts with light. These materials have been used for data storage because they can be treated as a binary system, using zeros and ones for the two different states. But their effectiveness for other technologies, like integrated circuitry and medical diagnostics, is rather limited because the materials that we were working with tend to have high absorption loss. We were looking for a material that didn’t have that problem. We landed on a material called antimony triselenide. This is a low-loss, reversible alternative to other phase-change materials. A study on the material from nearly 60 years ago demonstrated how the material could be used for semiconductors. But recently, because of its low absorption loss in the visible region, it has been used in things like solar panels. We studied the material using a technique called drop casting. This technique is an alternative to physical vapor deposition. It proved to be a lot more efficient, easier to replicate, and easier to perform on a larger scale. So, if this method were to be used to make something like a photonic integrated circuit, that would, in theory, be a lot more efficient. Our work essentially moved in that direction. What we found is that we can consistently flip back and forth between two states that have very different refractive indexes. We also found that our material has very low toxicity, which means that it is safe for consumer applications. By using these techniques, we found a lot of properties that suggest it could be used for more widespread applications. What do you plan to pursue in your college career? I just want to keep an open mind, explore, and see what I can find as I move into college. I am planning on majoring in physics. I’m potentially interested in a double major, maybe in something like data science or computer science, to broaden that scope. But I’m definitely interested in material physics. What can the optics and photonics community do to garner more interest from students? Early exposure is the key. I think that things like demos and outreach events for high school students, and even undergraduates, is something that should be a more common practice. At least in my experience, it felt like there was a high barrier of entry to a field like this. My research mentor, Casey Schwarz, was very helpful, certainly. But before I was able to understand what I was going to be working on, I had to read so many papers and look at so much material that is largely inaccessible to someone who is coming in from the outside, or without a lot of help and guidance. I also think that while theory is something that may be of interest to those already in the field, and those who may be able to understand it, theory doesn’t really do much for someone who has yet to step into a more rigorous scientific world. This is where things like active demos take on importance. Lasers and optics are genuinely interesting. There is major opportunity to show what these instruments and devices can do, and how they can solve real problems. Finally, raising awareness about the availability of interdisciplinary careers is something that could be very helpful to a younger population. There are vast applications in medicine as well as in chemistry and engineering. Photonics is central to all of those fields. 1. Ge2Sb2Te5 is a phase-change material.