Prof. Iam Choon Khoo

Current Position/Address:
William E. Leonhard Professor of Electrical Engineering
216 Electrical Engineering East
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802
Tel: (814) 863-2299; Fax: (814) 865-7065; E-mail: ick1@ psu.edu

Degrees:
B. Sc. (1st Class Honors) Physics, University of Malaya 1971
M.A. Physics, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 1973
Ph D. Physics, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 1976

Professional History:
2006 – Present – William E. Leonhard Professor of Electrical Engineering
2000 – 2006 – Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering
1987- 2000 – Pennsylvania State University-Professor of Electrical Engineering
9/98 –1/99 – Princeton University [sabbatical] – EE Department]
9/90-12/90 – Princeton University Fellow [sabbatical] – Physics Department
4/’84-7/’84 – National Research Council, Ottawa, Canada – Senior Visiting Scientist
1984-1987 – Pennsylvania State University-Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering
1979-1984 – Wayne State University-Assistant/Associate Professor of Physics
1/79-9/79 – University of Toronto-Research Fellow
1978-1979 – University of Michigan – Research Associate [with Emmett Leith]
1977-1978 – University of Southern California -Research Associate
1976-1977 – Ames Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, Iowa-Postdoctoral Fellow

Professional Society Membership:
° Optical Society of America (OSA) – Fellow [1988]
° Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) – Fellow [1998]; Life Fellow [2018]
° UK Institute of Physics – Fellow [1999]
° The Electromagnetics Academy – Fellow [2014]
° SPIE – International Society for Optics and Photonics – member

Professional Recognition:
° The 2024 SPIE Maria Goeppert-Mayer Award in Photonics
[https://spie.org/news/iam-choon-khoo-the-2024- SPIE-Maria-Goeppert-Mayer-award-in-photonics]
° Chair of the United State Advisory Committee/International Commission for Optics – The National Academies of Sciences and Engineering (1/2008-12/2010); member (2005-2011)
° The Electromagnetics Academy – Awarded Fellow (2014)
° Vice President – Technical Affairs, IEEE Photonic Society (2001 – 2004).
° Awarded Sir Pao Yu-Kong (Honorary) Chair Professorship by Zhejiang University, China (2014-2018);
Awarded (Honorary) Chair Professorship by National Sun Yet Sun University, Taiwan [2017-2020; 2021-
2024]
° 2003 Sturgeon Memorial Plenary Lecturer, Cambridge University [British Liquid Crystal   Society]
° Awarded Distinguished Professorship – Pennsylvania State University (2000-2006)
° UK Institute of Physics (Inst. P) – Awarded Fellow (1999)
° IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society – Elected Fellow (1998)
° Pennsylvania State Engineering Society-Premier Research Award (1995)
° Penn State Research Foundation Invention Incentive Awards (1994, 1995)
° Appointed Laser Specialist by World Bank to evaluate Key Universities in China (1990)
° Pennsylvania State University – 1988 Faculty Scholar Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Physical Science and Engineering
° Optical Society of America – Elected Fellow (1988)
° Pennsylvania State Engineering Society- Outstanding Research Faculty Award (1987)
° Research Corporation Cottrell Research Award (1981)
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National & International Professional Activities
– External Ph. D. Examiner – Trinity College (Physics), Dublin, Ireland (2001); Chalmers
University(Physics), Sweden (2002); Cambridge University (Electrical Engineering), UK (2005); The
University of Wollongong, (School of Mathematics and Applied Statistics) Australia (2013); Tampere
University of Technology (Physics/Photonics), Finland (2018).
– National Academies of Science and Academy of Engineering [NAS, NAE]: United States Advisory
Committee/Int. Comm. For Optics [Chair (1/2008 – 12/2010); Member (1/2006 -12/2013)]
– Vice President –Technical Affairs, IEEE –Lasers and Electro-Optics Society (2001 -2004)
– Proposal reviewer/panelist for NSF, AFOSR, ARO; Government Scientific Research Agencies of Canada, Hong
Kong, Italy, Belgium, Poland, UK, Austria, Ireland.
– Technical Journal Referee: J. Optical Society of America B; Optics Express, Optics Letters; Physical
Reviews and Physical Review Letters; Liquid Crystals; Nature: Nature Communication; Nature Photonics;
Applied Optics; Applied Physics Letters; Nature Photonics; Advance Materials; Nano; Proceedings of
National Academy of Science; IEEE J of Light Wave Technology; Optical Materials Express; Advanced
Photonics Research; Scientific Reports.
– Advisory Board Member of national research center: (1) State Key Laboratory on Advanced     Displays
and Optoelectronics Technologies (ADT), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
– Founder and Editor-in-Chief of “Journal of Nonlinear Optical Physics & Materials”(1991-2019).
– Chair of international technical conferences:
* IEEE Photonics Society
Chair, Nonlinear Optics Technical Committee (1992 – 1995, 1999 –2003); Chair, 2001 and 2005  Annual
Meeting Nonlinear Optics Subcommittee; Chair, 1990 Nonlinear Optics: Materials, Phenomena and Devices
[co-sponsored by OSA]; Conference co-chair, 2007 IEEE-LEOS Topical Meeting on “Organic Photonics Media,
Devices and Application,” Portland, Oregon.
* Optical Society of America [now called Optica]
Chair, 1990 Nonlinear Optics: Materials, Phenomena and Devices [co-sponsored by LEOS]; Program co-
chair “Int. topical Meeting on Optics of Liquid crystals”, Clearwater, Florida 10/2005 [Co- sponsored
by US Air Force]
* SPIE – International Society for Optics and Photonics
co-Chair, Technical Symposium on Aerospace Sensing-Optical Switches and Electro-Optic Materials 1989, 1990, 1992.
Chair, Liquid Crystals Conference I – XXIX (1997- 2025) in SPIE Optics and Photonics Annual
Symposium.
* European Technical Societies
Program co-chair, “1st Mediterranean International Workshop and Topical Meeting on Nonlinear
Photonics and Optical Physics,” Capri, Italy (1992). Program co-chair, “2nd –17th Mediterranean
Workshop and Topical Meeting on Novel Optical Materials and Applications,” Cetraro, Italy
(1995 -2025).
* Electromagnetics Academy
Technical Program Co-Chair, “PhotonIcs and Electromagnetic Research Symposium” PIERS: Stockholm,
Sweden (2013); Guangzhou, China (2014); Prague (2015); Shanghai (2016); Singapore (2017); Toyama,
Japan (2018). Conference and Technical Program Co-Chair, PIERS (Photonics and Electromagnetics
Research): Rome, Italy (2019)
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Education and Teaching Highlights 
° Graduate and Undergraduate Courses Developed
– Developed a Graduate level: EE 524 – “Lasers and Optical Electronics” [taught the course yearly since
1986 – present; student enrollment ~25 per semester] Taken by students mostly from EE, but also from
Physics, Chemistry and Material Science.
– Developed a Senior level: EE424 – “Lasers: Principles and Application” [taught the course yearly since
1986 – present; student enrollment ~ 25 per semester
– Developed two graduate courses: “Liquid crystals” and “Nonlinear Optical Materials“.
Nonlinear Optical Materials is now a regular graduate course [EE/MSE 526] offered every other year
jointly listed with Material Science and Engineering. “Liquid Crystals for Electro-Optical, Photonic,
and Sensing Applications” was offered in Fall semester 2018 and 2023.
° Advanced Degree Graduate Student Supervision
– Member of ~ 70 Ph. D. committees.
– Supervised 44 Ph. D. and Master Graduates [33 Ph. D and 11 Master]
Role: Thesis Advisor and Chair of committee Continue reading →