POSTECH: Prof. Seung-Hwan Baek Receives the Frontiers of Science Award at the First ICBS

Professor Seung-Hwan Baek of Computer Science at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) has been honored with the Frontiers of Science Award in the field of Computational Optics at the inaugural International Congress of Basic Science (ICBS), held in Beijing, China.

The Frontiers of Science Award is awarded to distinguished scientists who have made outstanding contributions across a spectrum of 34 distinct domains, spanning mathematics, theoretical physics, theoretical computer science, and information science, over the preceding five years.

Professor Baek’s achievement is attributed to his participation in research led by Ethan Tseng of Princeton University’s Department of Computer Science in 2021. The outcome of their collaborative efforts was published in Nature Communications under the title of “Neural nano-optics for high-quality thin lens imaging.” At that time, the research team created lenses smaller than a single grain of rice and miniscule cameras in the nanometer range, all achieved by using artificial intelligence technology.

This interdisciplinary confluence of computer vision, nano-optics, and AI underscores the potential of minuscule cameras going forward while also attracting attention by being featured in the Top 30 Ideas in Optics by Optica.

The ICBS, launched this year to promote the collaboration and knowledge exchange among leading scientists worldwide, brought together some 1,000 researchers, including recipients of the Fields Medal, Turing Award, and Nobel Prize.