Professor Igor Jex was named honorary member of The Optical Society - News service

Publication date:

2017/09/26

The Dean of the CTU Faculty of Nuclear and Physical Engineering and a specialist in quantum technology, was the first Czech in this millennium to be named Honorary Member (Fellow of the Society) in the international organization The Optical Society (OSA). It is a leading professional international organization for scientists, engineers, students and executives who bring new discoveries, create applications for real life, and accelerate achievements in science of light.

With his team, prof. Jex is devoted to studies of the quantum theory random walks and, together with a partner institution in Paderborn, Germany, transforms these theories into reality. Thanks to these theories and practical experiments, quantum computers are being created today. They can become much more powerful, while digital security ciphers and communication protocols will become unbreakable. The fact that the European Commission has decided to support this scientific sector by € 1 billion is significant as well.

The group of Professor Jex is made up of predominantly young scientists, but it still achieved a number of significant awards and its members are often cited by the members of scientific community.

OSA was founded in 1916 by Perley G. Nutting and was consisted of 30 scientists and manufacturers of optics components. Its seat was in Rochester. Shortly after its founding, the first professional journal on the themes around the light phenomenon appeared. Although it was originally a purely American society, its operations soon crossed the US border and today it brings together 20,000 members from all over the world. Since its inception, it has been aiming at enhancing the studies of light - optics and photonics - on a global level by organizing conferences, workshops, teaching support, and last but not least, encouraging collaboration with industry to develop new technologies. Currently, the OSA cooperates with 265 industrial companies to develop new technologies or applying scientific knowledge in business.