The SPIE Gold Medal is the highest honor in the field of photonics. It is awarded in recognition of outstanding engineering or scientific accomplishments in optics, photonics, electro-optics, or imaging technologies and applications.
Vicerector Innovation & Industry Relations, Director of B-PHOT and VUB Professor Hugo Thienpont was one of the first researchers in Europe to recognize the potential impact of the science and technology of light. As such, he was one of the first to actively promote photonics as both a new research and engineering discipline and a key enabling technology. That pioneering vision for photonics has had a tangible impact on education, research, innovations, and societal well-being in Europe and beyond, while many of his scientific results.