Jonathan Ellis Wins Major NSF Award for Freeform Optics

April 17, 2017

Jonathan EllisProfessor Jonathan Ellis of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the Institute of Optics,  and the Center for Freeform Optics was recently awarded an NSF CAREER award in the amount of $500,000. The award is part of the NSF’s Faculty Early Career Development Program. “The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is a Foundation-wide activity that offers the National Science Foundation's most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.1”  Prof. Ellis’s proposal was on “Breaking the freeform optics metrology barrier with synthetic wavelength interferometry.” The project will empower optical designers and manufacturers with metrology methodologies that can measure advanced freeform optics.

1https://www.nsf.gov