POSTECH Professor Elected as an Optica Fellow

POSTECH Professor Chulhong Kim (Department of Convergence IT Engineering, Department of Electrical Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Medical Science and Engineering Program) has been elected as 2023 Optica Fellow. He is among the 109 members from 24 countries selected to Optica’s 2023 Fellow Class.

Professor Kim was selected as the Fellow for his contributions to multi-parametric photoacoustic imaging from super-resolution microscopy to clinical imaging system, and multi-modal optical imaging via transparent ultrasound sensor.

After completing his Ph.D. at Washington University in St. Louis and working as an assistant professor at the State University of New York Buffalo, Professor Kim joined POSTECH in 2013. His research focus is on the development and commercialization of the next-generation medical imaging technology using optics and ultrasound. He has been highly regarded as a leading optics scholar through his convergence research in chemistry, materials, and medicine.

In 2018, Professor Kim founded Opticho Inc. and successfully developed the next-generation photoacoustic microscopy and clinical systems. He was elected as the Fellow of SPIE and won the first place in the LINA+50 Creative Innovation Award in 2021. He was also named as the Scientist of the Month by the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT in the same year. In 2022, Professor Kim was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering of Korea (NAEK).

Founded in 1916, Optica (formerly OSA, Optical Society of America) is the most authoritative international academic organization in the field of optics with more than 22,000 members worldwide. Each year, about 5 percent of Optica members are elected to the Fellow Class and the total number of Fellows in the past has not exceeded 10 percent of the total membership. The election process is highly competitive and is based on several factors, including outstanding contributions to business, education, research, engineering, and service to Optica and to its community.