In Brief

The Foundation for Research and Technology–Hellas in Greece has named Raymond E. Goldstein, an associate professor of physics and of applied mathematics at the University of Arizona, as the winner of the Pnevmatikos Award in Nonlinear Science for 2000. The foundation recognized “his contributions to the understanding of pattern formation involving the dynamics of filaments, interfaces and surfaces, combining powerful mathematical methods with penetrating physical arguments, numerical computations, and experiments to clarify nonlinear phenomena in a wide variety of physical and biological systems.” The award will be presented next month at an international conference on Crete.

At the American Physical Society March meeting in Seattle, Taekjip Ha, an assistant professor of physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, received the 2001 Outstanding Young Researcher Award from the Association of Korean Physicists in America. The association acknowledged Ha for “his truly outstanding scholarly and pioneering research on the biological physics in the field of single-molecule fluorescence.”

Dirk Rischke joined the University of Frankfurt in Germany earlier this year as the chair for theoretical heavy-ion physics. He previously was a RIKEN–BNL Research Fellow with the Brookhaven National Laboratory theory group. Rischke succeeds Walter Greiner, who will retire in three years. Until that time, Rischke and Greiner will be working together to ensure a smooth transition.

At the annual Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers honors ceremony next month in Jersey City, New Jersey, Herwig Kogelnik will receive the IEEE’s highest award, the 2001 IEEE Medal of Honor. Kogelnik is adjunct photonics systems research vice president at Lucent Technologies’ Bell Labs in Holmdel, New Jersey. According to the citation, he is being acknowledged for “fundamental contributions to the science and technology of lasers and optoelectronics, and for leadership in research and development of photonics and lightwave communication systems.”

On the occasion of his retirement in March from MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Dieter J. Sigmar, senior research scientist, received the US Department of Energy’s Distinguished Associate Award. He was honored, in part, for his “contributions to our understanding of plasma confinement, the physics of burning plasmas, and the role of the plasma edge,” according to the citation, which also noted that his “commitment to international fusion collaboration and stimulation of theory programs around the world has been critical to our progress in fusion science research.” Sigmar plans to continue working on transport theory in tokamak plasmas with his MIT colleagues and following developments worldwide in the physics of burning plasmas.