Ahmed Hassanein, Paul L. Wattelet Professor and Head of the School of Nuclear Engineering has been elected Fellow of SPIE for achievements in the development of EUV sources for advanced lithography.

SPIE is an international society advancing an interdisciplinary approach to the science and application of light. Fellows are members of distinction, fewer than one percent of the membership, who have made considerable technical and scientific contributions in optics, photonics, optoelectronics, and imaging.

With more than 30 years of experience in research and development in the fields of nuclear and plasma physics, engineering, and material science,  Prof. Hassanein is nationally and internationally recognized as one of the world's foremost leaders in the area of modeling and benchmarking material responses to different radiation and particle sources.

Hassanein conceived, developed and built state-of-the art computational tools and experimental facilities to predict material behavior, lifetime issues, plasma evolution, and fluid hydrodynamics under various irradiation conditions. These models and the results are used globally in several research fields.

These accomplishments as well as authoring more than 400 journal publications and technical reports in more than 30 different national and international journals in physics, engineering, materials, and computer science have led to frequent invitations to present at world-class institutions as well as chairperson for national and international conferences and workshops.

Founded in 1955 to advance light-based technologies, SPIE serves more than 180,000 constituents from 168 countries, the Society advances emerging technologies through interdisciplinary information exchange, continuing education, publications, patent precedent, and career and professional growth. In 2009, the Society provided more than $2 million in support of scholarships, grants, and other education programs around the world.

Each year, SPIE promotes members as new Fellows of the Society. Fellows are Members of distinction who have made significant scientific and technical contributions in the multidisciplinary fields of optics, photonics, and imaging. They are honored for their technical achievement, for their service to the general optics community, and to SPIE in particular. More than 800 SPIE members have become Fellows since the Society's inception in 1955. "The annual recognition of Fellows provides an opportunity for us to acknowledge Members for their outstanding technical contributions and service to SPIE," noted Ralph James, SPIE President.

SPIE is an old acronym, which has been kept even though the name changed slightly. Originally it stood for the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers, later it became the International Society for Optical Engineering and today is the International Society for Optics and Photonics.