UT Arlington electrical engineer named Fellow of The Optical Society

Michael Vasilyev, UT Arlington professor of Electrical Engineering, has been named a Fellow of The Optical Society, the highest membership distinction in the leading professional association in optics and photonics.

The group has 18,500 members in more than 100 countries.

Khosrow Behbehani, dean of the College of Engineering, said Vasilyev is being recognized for his pioneering experimental and theoretical work on multimode phase-sensitive optical parametric amplifiers.

"Dr. Vasilyev's work on quantum communication is of great importance in making highly secure communication of data possible," Behbehani said. "This is of great importance and value as our society is rapidly becoming reliant on data for its progress."

Vasilyev, who has been at UT Arlington since 2003, has written or contributed to more than 170 scientific papers, holds 10 U.S. patents and was a recipient of the 2008 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Young Faculty Award.

He said his amplifiers can be used for noiseless amplification and regeneration of communication signals and faint images.

"The phase-sensitive optical amplifiers are unique devices capable of stabilizing signal phases and amplifying signals without adding any noise," Vasilyev said. "When I started my research career, they were considered an obscure peculiarity of fundamental quantum physics."

Vasilyev said the honor from The Optical Society is recognizing the work of his students and collaborators who have succeeded in developing these amplifiers from a fundamental physics concept into a technology well accepted by today's telecom and imaging communities.

Founded in 1916, The Optical Society is the home to accomplished science, engineering and business leaders from all over the world. Through world-renowned publications, meetings and membership programs, the Society provides quality information and inspiring interactions that power achievements in the science of light.

Fellows are selected from the Optical Society members who have served with distinction in the advancement of optics and photonics. The number of Fellows elected each year is limited to approximately four-tenths of 1 percent of the current membership total. The OSA Fellow is the highest grade of membership and is recognized by the technical community as a prestigious honor and an important career achievement.

Provided by University of Texas at Arlington