OSA Names First Kevin P. Thompson Optical Design Innovator Award Recipient

The Optical Society (OSA) has named Ulrike Fuchs of asphericon GmbH, Germany, as the first recipient of the Kevin P. Thompson Optical Design Innovator Award. Fuchs is recognized for interlinking aspects of optical design, tolerancing, metrology, and manufacturing for aspherics to enable their usage as a reasonable choice in optical systems.

The Kevin P. Thompson Optical Design Innovator Award was established in 2017 to honor Kevin P. Thompson, whose many accomplishments include leading breakthroughs in the understanding of the aberration fields of a new class of truly nonsymmetrical optical systems using freeform optical surfaces.

The award recognizes significant contributions, at an early career stage, to lens design, optical engineering, or metrology as evidenced by one or more of the following: innovative and rigorous research, optical system design with a foundation in aberration theory, development of advanced metrology capabilities, product development, patents, or publications.

Fuchs studied physics at the Friedrich-Schiller University, Germany, from 1999 to 2004, majoring in optics. She received a Ph.D. degree in 2009 at Fraunhofer IOF. Afterward, she worked as research associate at the IOF Micro-Optical Department and as assistant lecturer at the Abbe School of Photonics. In 2010, she joined asphericon and became head of the Applications Department in 2012. Her current position oversees all R&D activities and strategic product development.