María Josefa Yzuel gives name to SPIE international prize
11/10/2018
The prestigious scientific society SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics recently announced its decision to change the name of one of its prizes to honour the emeritus professor of the UAB Department of Physics Maria Josefa Yzuel. Since 2003, the newly renamed "SPIE Maria Yzuel Educator Award" is awarded to those who contribute substantially to teaching in the field of optics.
With an extensive scientific production and an enormous influence in the different areas of optics, Professor Yzuel has worked on optic systems, on optical processing of information and on polarisation. Her research has yielded improvements in the use of spatial light modulators as diffractive optical elements. The research conducted by Professor Yzuel has been applied and developed in fields such as medical imaging where, for the first time, she proposed the application of specific techniques to improve diagnostic imaging.
Alongside her academic and scientific achievements, María Josefa Yzuel Giménez is a committed member of several scientific societies, both local and international. She was the first woman president of the Spanish Optical Society (1993-1996) and secretary general of the European Optical Society (1996-1998), the first time a Spanish scientist occupied that position. She was also the president of the SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics in 2009.
Throughout her career she has defended the role of women in science and has given visibility to their contribution to social development and progress. From the creation of the Association of Women Researchers and Technologists (AMIT), she works towards defending non-discrimination and equal opportunities for women and men in academia with the objective of helping and fostering the incorporation of young women researchers into the research field. Her commitment led her to found the Women Physicists' Group of the Royal Spanish Society of Physics.
Maria Josefa Yzuel was president of the Spanish Committee of the International Year of Light and is now president of the International Day of Light, as well as holding an honorary doctorate by the University of Granada and the Miguel Hernández University of Elx.
More information at:
http://spie.org/about-spie/awards-programs/current-award-winners/spie-maria-j-yzuel-educator-award?SSO=1