Japanese Researcher Receives Award for Development of Ceramic Laser Material (开辟激光陶瓷新领域)
Dr. Akio Ikesue was presented with the 2008 Award for his pioneering work in the field of optically transparent polycrystalline ceramics, with which he created the field of polycrystalline ceramic lasers.
For many years, his name has been inseparably linked to the fabrication of novel ceramic laser materials. In 1995, he achieved laser performances close to those of mono crystals. This sparked off intensive research and development activities that have resulted in new ceramic technologies and a broad scope of applications for the materials produced using this sophisticated procedure.
The results of Dr. Ikesue’s research have been published in renowned technical magazines. His ideas have met with broad acceptance and are now being put to use in laboratories all over the world. The Japanese scientist is currently a regular visiting lecturer at distinguished conferences on lasers, materials and ceramics. Only recently, he was selected by the U.S. Government to become the first project head from Asia to develop ceramic materials for producing megawatt laser performances.
At present, Akio Ikesue has 15 patents. He founded his own company, World Lab.Co. Ltd., in Nagoya, and is an Invited Professor at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris.
The Otto Schott Research Award and the Carl Zeiss Research Award are conferred on an alternating annual basis to honor out-standing scientific performance and to motivate and promote the cooperation between science and industry. Both research awards are managed by the Stifterverband, a German research organiza-tion that offers the award on an international basis, in line with the international presence of the two groups, SCHOTT AG and CARL ZEISS AG. Among the past award winners are physicians and chemists from Germany, as well as scientists from various Euro-pean countries, the United States, Russia, Japan and China.
The Japanese scientist Dr. Akio Ikesue (2nd from left), Dr. Hans-Joachim Konz (2nd from right), member of the Board of Management at SCHOTT and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ernst Abbe Fund, also bids farewell to Professor Gerd Mueller (right) and Prof. Donald Uhlmann (left), two individuals who have served as members of the Board of Trustees for many years.