Prize Recipient

Christopher Panuski
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

"For extraordinary work that has significantly advanced the field of optics, precision measurement, and electro-optic device; in particular, such research accomplishments are milestones on the road to the control and measurement of complex optical fields."

Christopher Panuski received bachelor’s degrees in Electrical Engineering and Physics from the United States Naval Academy in 2017, a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2019, and a PhD in EECS from MIT in 2022. At the Naval Academy, he developed collaborations with the Naval Research Laboratory, MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, and the DoD Cyber Crime Center. His work – ranging from radar signal processing to digital image reconstruction and optical sensing – led to various awards including the Hertz Fellowship, MIT Presidential Fellowship, and Stamps Leadership Scholarship. Following graduation, he joined MIT’s Quantum Photonics Group to explore high-speed programmable optics for beamforming, communications, and precision sensing. The results of these investigations – including the development of gigahertz-rate spatial light modulators, open-source holography software, and a new class of wavelength-scale optical sensors operating at their fundamental noise limits – formed his doctoral thesis. Chris is now a cryptologist in the US Navy, where he aspires to combine operational experience with technical expertise to solve complex national security issues.