On Friday, June 13, 2025, the Awards ceremony will recognize excellent achievements at different levels by honoring
- with the Hans Mueller Memorial Award and Lecture, shared in equal halves:
Prof. Dr. John A. Woollam, Founder and CEO of J.A. Woollam Co., Inc. and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Nebaska-Lincoln (USA), for having made pioneering, life-long contributions to the development, application, dissemination, and education in the field of spectroscopic ellipsometry; and
Prof. Dr. David E. Aspnes, Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Physics at North Carolina State University (USA), for development of fundamental theories of the linear and nonlinear optical properties of materials and thin films, and for pioneering the field of spectroscopic ellipsometry. - with the Paul Drude Award:
Dr. Ufuk Kiliç, Research Associate Professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (USA), for the achievement of having demonstrated and determined unambiguous structural and optical relationships for chiral and achiral nanostructured metamaterials using computational engineering, nanostructure material preparation, and spectroscopic ellipsometry. - with the Innovation and Creativity Award:
Dr. Shirly Espinoza, Scientist at ELI Beamlines. The Extreme Light Infrastructure ERIC. Dolní Břežany (Czech Republic), for developing the first versatile UV-NIR femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopic ellipsometer and for training, educating, and leading a broad and diverse international user community. - with Student Awards for best oral presentations and for best posters:
Undergraduate and graduate students to be determined based on evaluations during the conference.
ICSE-10 newly introduces life-time achievement as well as student awards. Life-time achievement awards bring remembrance to early pioneers in the field and highlight the importance of historical developments.
Students must indicate their status upon registration in order to partake in the best oral presentation and best poster competitions.
Find more information about each award below:
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Hans Mueller Memorial Award and Lecture
The Hans Mueller Memorial Award and Lecture will be established at ICSE-10 to honor a senior community member for pioneering, lifetime achievements in the field of ellipsometry.
The ICSE-10 Award Committee proudly announces the winners of the Hans Mueller Memorial Award competition,
shared in equal halves by:
- John A. Woollam, sponsored by AIP Publishing.
- David E. Aspnes, sponsored by J.A. Woollam Co., Inc.
John A. Woollam
J.A. Woollam Co., Inc. &
University of Nebraska-Lincoln (USA)
For having made pioneering, life-long contributions to the development, application, dissemination, and education in the field of spectroscopic ellipsometry.
Professor John A. Woollam is President and Founder of the J.A. Woollam Co., Inc. and George Holmes Distinguished University Professor, Professor of Physics (joint appointment), and Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Prior to his tenure at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, John directed the Cryophysics Section at NASA Lewis Research Center, and he was Visiting Scientist at the MIT’s Francis Bitter National Magnet Laboratory. John obtained a M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University in 1978, a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Solid State Physics from Michigan State University in 1967 and 1963, respectively, and a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Kenyon College. John is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), and a Fellow of the American Vacuum Society (AVS). He is the recipient of the 2012 Industrial Applications of Physics Award of the American Physical Society, the 2018 Dr. Prem. S. Paul Innovator of the Year Award of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the 2017 R. F. Bunshah Award of the Internat. Conf. Met. Coatings and Thin Films, and he received two honorary Doctorates from Kenyon College, Gambier, OH in 2008, and Linkoping University, Sweden in 2004. John has published over 437 refereed articles, has given over 478 society meetings presentations, received over 8,300 citations, and his h-index is 45. John holds over 65 patents, and he is the Founder of the J.A. Woollam Foundation, which is active in support of land conservation and ICSE Conferences (including ICSE-10). His Foundation has endowed Scholarships at UNL Teachers College, UNL Engineering College, and Kenyon College.

North Carolina State University (USA)
For the development of fundamental theories of the linear and nonlinear optical properties of materials and thin films, and for pioneering the field of spectroscopic ellipsometry.
David Aspnes is Distinguished University Professor of Physics Emeritus at North Carolina State University. He received BSEE and MSEE degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1960 and 1961, and a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign in 1965. Following a year as a postdoctoral research associate at UIUC and another at Brown University, he joined Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ, as a Member of the Technical Staff in the Surface Physics Research Department, where his interests lay in the investigations of surfaces under ambient conditions. In 1984 he became Head of the Interface Physics Department of the newly created Bellcore. He joined NC State University 1992. He is best known for his experimental and theoretical work on the development and application of optical techniques for the analysis of surfaces, interfaces, thin films, structures, and materials. These include the theory and practice of spectroscopic ellipsometry, modulation spectroscopy, reflectance difference spectroscopy, and nonlinear optics. Professional recognitions include fellowships in various professional societies, the R. W. Wood Prize of the Optical Society of America, the Medard W. Welch Award of the American Vacuum Society, the Mentor Award of the Society of Vacuum Coaters, election to the US National Academy of Sciences, and being named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. He has an h-index of 76, 23 patents, and over 500 publications in scientific journals. Although retired, he remains active on graduate committees, developing methods of eliminating noise and extracting information from spectra, and writing a textbook on classical electrodynamics.

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Paul Drude Award
The Paul Drude Award is traditionally the main recognition at the ICSE conference series, given to a young scientist for exceptional contributions to the development and application of spectroscopic ellipsometry.
The ICSE-10 Award Committee proudly announces the winner of the Paul Drude Award competition, sponsored by AIP Publishing:
University of Nebraska-Lincoln (USA)
For the achievement of having demonstrated and determined unambiguous structural and optical relationships for chiral and achiral nanostructured metamaterials using computational engineering, nanostructure material preparation, and spectroscopic ellipsometry.
Ufuk Kiliç earned his B.Sc. in Physics from Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, in 2009, where he graduated first in his class. He went on to earn his M.Sc. from Bogazici University, Istanbul, in 2012, where he also pursued doctoral research in spintronics until 2014. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) in 2021. Following his role as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow under the Emerging Quantum Materials and Technologies (EQUATE) program (2021–2023), he was appointed Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2023. Dr. Kiliç’s research bridges advanced nanofabrication, optical spectroscopy, and electromagnetic modeling to develop novel photonic and quantum metamaterials. His contributions to these fields have appeared in prestigious journals, with multiple works featured on journal covers, and have earned him several honors and awards, including the 2024 MIND Postdoctoral Award from the American Vacuum Society’s Magnetic Interfaces and Nanostructures Division (MIND), the 2022 Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Fellowship for Promising Young Investigators, and the 2021 Society of Vacuum Coaters Foundation Scholarship awarded in honor of Nobel Laureate John B. Fenn.

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Innovation and Creativity Award
The Innovation and Creativity Award will be given, for the first time at ICSE-10, to recognize an individual, research group, company, or institution for outstanding innovation and creativity in the field of ellipsometry.
The ICSE-10 Award Committee proudly announces the winner of the Innovation and Creativity Award competition, sponsored by Cryogenic US LLC:
Shirly Espinoza
ELI Beamlines (Czech Republic)
For developing the first versatile UV-NIR femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopic ellipsometer and for training, educating, and leading a broad and diverse international user community.
Dr. Espinoza is a permanent scientist at ELI Beamlines Facility, The Extreme Light Infrastructure ERIC, Dolní Břežany, Czech Republic. She graduated with a degree as Physics Engineer from the National University of Colombia, Medellin, Colombia in 2004. She received a PhD in Physics in the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Charles University in Prague in 2011. She currently coordinates the team responsible for developing the first pump-probe setup capable of measuring ellipsometric spectra of solid-state samples across the near-infrared, visible, and near-ultraviolet spectral ranges. She is a member of the Board of the AKE Ellipsometry society (European Society of Ellipsometry), and served as co-chair of 12th Workshop on Spectroscopic Ellipsometry: September 2023, Dolní Břežany. Her publication h-index is 12 according to Google Scholar. She has published 46 journals which are cited 467 times according to ISI WoS.

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Student Awards
A total of 6 Student Awards, newly featured at ICSE-10, will be handed to undergraduate or graduate students for best oral presentations and for best posters. In addition, one outstanding student researcher will be recognized with an invitation to speak at the 13th Workshop Ellipsometry.