Ambassadors mentor early-career professionals and students worldwide through virtual and in-person programs
WASHINGTON - The Optical Society (OSA) is pleased to announce the 2021 class of OSA Ambassadors.
The Ambassador program equips 10 exceptional early-career members to provide mentorship, training and inspiration to our global network of student members and chapters.
This year's class will offer a series of webinars and podcasts on topics ranging from effective communication skills to research excellence to career-pathing. You can learn more at osa.org/ambassadors.
"The ambassador program, supported by the OSA Foundation, leverages the passion and drive of emerging leaders in our community to provide mentorship opportunities and cultivate grassroots activities worldwide," said Chad Stark, Executive Director, OSA Foundation.
"As an ambassador, I have grown a deeper understanding and appreciation for the society and have been able to mentor many students and other early career professionals at critical points along there path," said 2019 Ambassador Gabrielle Thomas, M Squared Lasers, Germany.
The 2021 Ambassadors are:
- Abubakar Isa Adamu, Lumensity Limited, United Kingdom for grassroots activities including leading an IONS conference, youth education outreach and work to improve human capital development.
- Emerson Barbano, Federal University of Paraná - UFPR, Brazil for efforts to create new, free content for optical fiber communications online, dedication to outreach activities for the Instituto de Fisica de Sao Carlos (IFSC) Student Chapter and advising the student chapter at Federal University of Parana.
- Tatevik Chalyan, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium for leadership in grassroots activities including student chapters in Armenia and Belgium, IONS conferences and diversity and inclusion.
- Margaret Dominguez, NASA Goddard, USA for leadership in youth education outreach activities with the National Capital Section of OSA as well as advocating for optics/STEM education in underserved communities.
- Francesco Da Ros, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark for his dedication to the society in community engagement and meetings like CLEO.
- Julia Majors, Avo Photonics, Inc., USA for volunteering in public affairs and demonstrating excellence in bridging academia and industry in both her career and the Applied Industrial Optics (AIO) topical meeting.
- Nataliia Mysko-Krutik, ILTPE NASU, Ukraine for connecting women and student chapters in Ukraine to international programs.
- Orad Reshef, University of Ottawa, Canada for participation as a founding member of the Harvard University Student Chapter, chapter advisor to the University of Ottawa Student Chapter and virtual community engagement through the Photonics Online Meetup.
- Michael Williams, Boston Electronics, USA for grassroots activities and volunteer work with Black scientists and engineers and other underrepresented communities.
- Linhui Yu, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, USA for leadership in the Calgary Optics and Photonics Student Society and creating space for students to learn from their peers.
