Detecting microplastics first step in assessing environmental harm
Amid growing alarm over the plastic that pollutes our environment, biomedical and optics researchers are devising ways to quickly detect microplastics in drinking water to better understand their potential impacts on human health.
Rochester breakthrough in laser science earns Nobel Prize
University of Rochester doctoral graduate Donna Strickland ’89 (PhD) and former optics faculty member Gérard Mourou shared the Nobel Prize in Physics today for work they undertook at the University’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics. Their breakthrough paved the way for the creating very short and very intense laser pulses now used in a variety of applications, from LASIK eye surgery to the manufacturing of materials used in cell phones.
Knox elected fellow of National Academy of Inventors
As a teenager, Wayne Knox ’79, ’84 (PhD) “sometimes filled the house with smoke” while building short wave radios and other electronic gadgets from scratch. Now the optics professor is among this year’s NAI fellows.