Nov 29 2013
Tobias Kippenberg has received the 2013 International Commission for Optics (ICO) prize, an important international award presented each year to an outstanding researcher under the age of 40 in the field of optics.
© 2013 EPFL
The ICO prize is awarded every year to outstanding researchers in the field of optics who are below the age of 40 at the time of the award. It was established in 1982 to recognize noteworthy contributions to optics, alternating between experimental/technological or theoretical achievements in the field. It includes a citation, a cash award (USD 1000-USD 2000), and an invitation to present an invited paper and receive the award at the annual ICO Congress.
Tobias Kippenberg, Head of the Laboratory of Photonics and Quantum Measurements at EPFL, has been awarded the ICO Prize 2013 for "his innovative and pioneering research on cavity optomechanics and optical frequency combs using optical microresonators."
Tobias Kippenberg received his PhD from CalTech in 2004, and joined EPFL in 2008 after an illustrious research career at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching. While at Max Plank, Kippenberg demonstrated radiation pressure cooling of optical microresonators, and developed techniques with which mechanical oscillators can be cooled, measured and manipulated in the quantum regime. His research group also discovered the generation of optical frequency combs using high Q micro-resonators.