The latest Optica Community article tells the story of how uncertain weather and failed crops in a farming village in Turkey inspired a nine-year-old girl to become one of the world's leading physicists.
WASHINGTON - "An Uncertain World," the latest installment in the Optica Community series, tells the story of Altug's path to becoming a leading authority on nanophotonics. Her journey began as she grew up in a farming community in southwestern Turkey, where she witnessed the unpredictability of nature.
"Everyone in the village put their efforts into growing beautiful produce that looked nice and green and blooming in the early part of the season. Then sometimes the rain came at the wrong time. Sometimes it was too hot, or there was a frost, and the yield would suddenly drop," said Altug. "This is why I turned to machines - to make systems I could design, predict and control."
"Prof. Altug exemplifies the scientific impulse to put intellectual order to an uncertain world and the innovative mindset to engineer solutions to the problems we find. Her work harnesses light to forge solutions in areas from medicine to communications. Her story teaches us the value of every journey in our global community." said P. Scott Carney, Optica's Chief Scientist.
Altug's determination would take her to Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, where she was one of only three female undergraduate students studying physics. Her college life was lonely: her classmates wouldn't speak to her and she wasn't able to visit home. To escape the solitude, she took extra classes and found solace in a laboratory, where she discovered optics and photonics. She believed she had the key to making efficient systems.
"I loved lasers and the exact nature of optics and photonics. I knew I could make useful applications with light," said Altug.
Later, Altug pursued a Ph.D. at Stanford, where she encountered new methods of controlling light. "I came across nanophotonics, sculpting light at nanoscale to manipulate light-matter interactions in unprecedented ways."
Today, Altug is a fellow of Optica and a full professor in the Bioengineering Department of Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, and director of the EPFL Doctoral School of Photonics. She is the winner of numerous grants and awards, including Optica's Adolph Lomb medal, the IEEE Photonics Society Young Investigator Award, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) - the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers in their early careers.
"An Uncertain World" is the fifth story in the Optica Community series celebrating the members of Optica (formerly OSA), Advancing Optics and Photonics worldwide.
To learn more about Hatice Altug, read "An Uncertain World."
Optica's Community Values
Optica has been a respected authority on light science and technology for more than a century, with a heritage dating back to the Optical Society of America's founding in 1916. Optica's publications, programs, events, and advocacy support the optics and photonics community as they invent the future and uncover the beautiful secrets of the universe with light. Today, Optica unites a diverse population of students, scientists, engineers and professionals working in light science and technology. The society is a champion for the field and advocates for the interests of its members around the world.
The Optica Community series is a collection of extraordinary life stories celebrating Optica's global diversity and the values its members share.
Readers can find the Optica Community series at https://www.optica.org/en-us/about/optica_community/.
