Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Ali Adibi won the Innovation Award in Quantum Sensing and Nano Electronics and Photonics at the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) Photonics West Meeting in January. 

The awards is given to outstanding researchers who present the most notable recent discoveries with broad impact in the areas of quantum sensing and nano electronics and photonics. 

Adibi was recognized for major achievements in the formation of reconfigurable metaphotonic structures enabled by phase-change materials. The nano-scale structures, crafted through artificial engineering, exhibit exceptional optical properties beneficial for imaging and spectroscopy systems. 

He was one of nine researchers from institutions around the world to receive the award. 

Adibi, who is the director for the Photonics Research Group, earned his M.S.E.E. from Georgia Tech in 1994 and joined the ECE faculty in 2000. 

He received his B.S.E.E. from Shiraz University (Iran) in 1990, and his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 2000. His Ph.D. research resulted in a breakthrough in persistent holographic storage in photorefractive crystals. 

Adibi has a wide range of research interests in both theoretical and experimental aspects of photonic devices and materials. His research has produced more than 240 journal and more than 600 conference publications, as well as several invention disclosures and patents. 

On top of his latest achievement, Adibi has received several prestigious awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) from the White House, CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF), and Packard Fellowship from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.