– Anticipated to contribute to future of optical engineering
– Selected in Forbes ‘30 Under 30 Asia 2019’

Gwanho Yoon, a doctoral student in mechanical engineering at POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology, President Doh-Yeon Kim), has been awarded the 2019 Optics and Photonics Education Scholarship by SPIE (Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers), the largest academic society in the field of optical engineering.

Yoon, working in the Nanophotonics Lab led by Professor Junsuk Rho, has been specializing in various researches on metasurface, widely known as the “invisibility cloak” technology. This research has attracted much attention because it also leads to future technologies through augmented and virtual reality technology, 3D hologram display and ultra-thin flat lens.

Yoon stated, “Even though metasurface outperforms conventional optical technology, only laboratory-scale production was possible due to its high production cost and difficulty in large-scale production. But this research develops quick and inexpensive metasurface production technology, allowing us to make an important contribution to commercialization of metasurface.”

Yoon made headlines in April when he was selected as one of the ’30 Under 30 Asia 2019′ leaders in the Healthcare and Science category by Forbes, an American business magazine.

This SPIE scholarship, awarded to students who are expected to contribute significantly to the future of optical engineering, was awarded to a total of 84 students from all over the world in 2019 and Yoon was the sole recipient in Korea and amongst the four in Asia.

Yoon’s advisor Professor Roh added, “Since this scholarship is known to be rarely awarded to non-US countries and especially not to Asian universities, I believe that SPIE has weighed Yoon’s potential at a higher level.”