Goodman Prize Goes to Authors of Metamaterials Textbook

Vladimir Shalaev of Purdue University and Wenshan Cai of the Georgia Institute of Technology have been named the 2014 recipients of the Joseph W. Goodman Book Writing Award.

Their book, “Optical Metamaterials: Fundamentals and Applications,” covers the basics of and details recent advances in the field, including superlenses and cloaking devices.

The biennial award is funded by Joseph and Hon Mai Goodman and co-sponsored by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, and The Optical Society (OSA).

“The authors are amongst the leaders in the field,” said Sir John Pendry, professor at Imperial College London and an OSA fellow. “This book will play an important part in taking the subject of metamaterials to new heights of invention and application.”

Shalaev is the scientific director of nanophotonics at Purdue’s Birck Nanotechnology Center and a distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering at the university. He has received several awards for his work in metamaterials, including the UNESCO Medal for the Development of Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies, the Willis E. Lamb Award for Laser Science and Quantum Optics, and OSA's Max Born Award.

Cai is a former student of Shalaev at Purdue who completed his postdoctoral research at Stanford University. He is an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Georgia Tech, with a joint appointment in materials science and engineering.

“Cai and Shalaev have done a tremendous job in making this exciting scientific topic accessible,” said Nader Engheta, a University of Pennsylvania professor and SPIE and OSA fellow.

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