Prize Recipient

Erich Peter Ippen
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Citation:

"For their pioneering work in developing femtosecond sources and for their leadership in applying these sources in broad areas of science."

Background:

Dr. Ippen received his BS degree from M.I.T. in 1962 and his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California in 1968. He was a member of the technical staff at Bell Laboratories in Holmdel in NJ from 1968 to 1980. In 1980 he joined the faculty of M.I.T. where he is now Elihu Thompson Professor of Electrical Engineering and Professor of Physics.

Dr. Ippen's research interests have included nonlinear interactions in optical fibers, dye lasers, semiconductor diode lasers, ultrashort pulse generation, femtosecond optical techniques and studies of ultrafast processes in materials and devices. Current research topics in his group involve femtosecond spectroscopy of solid-state materials, ultrafast nonlinearities in semiconductor waveguides, and ultrashort-pulse optical fiber devices.

Dr. Ippen is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the AAAS. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society, the IEEE and the Optical Society of America. He has received the R.W. Wood Prize of the OSA, the Edward Longstreth Medal of the Franklin Institute, the Morris Leeds Award of the IEEE, a Humboldt US Senior Scientist Award, the H.E. Edgerton Award of the SPIE, and the John Scott Award of the City of Philadelphia Trusts.