Ramachandran an APS Fellow

Distinguished Professor of Engineering Siddharth Ramachandran (ECE, Physics, MSE) has been named a 2022 Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) for foundational contributions to the study of structured and singular light and their applications. The APS is the premier organization whose membership spans the worldwide physics community.

Ramachandran is a photonics pioneer who designed the first optical fiber capable of transmitting data encoded in light that travels in a corkscrew path. Sending data this way—known as the orbital angular momentum degree of photons—was thought to be impossible until Ramachandran and colleagues demonstrated it in a landmark 2013 Science paper. His technol- ogy, which he has continued to refine since, promises to boost internet bandwidth by at least 25 times today’s capacity.

“It is now clear that his fiber designs will be part of the backbone of tomorrow’s internet,” Ramachandran’s nominator wrote to the APS, adding that Ramachandran has also developed the first all-fiber STED microscope, record (kW) power level sources emitting topologically complex beams, and engineerable optical activity isotropic media.

“I am honored and humbled to join the select group of exceptional physicists fortunate enough to be designated a fellow by the prestigious APS,” says Ramachandran, “and I am particularly gratified that APS also endeavors to recognize, in addition to

One of those alumni donors is Daniel Maneval (ENG’82), who made the lead gift to the fund with his wife Edna Chow Maneval, who also holds a doctorate in biomedical engineering. A key reason they champion the Senior Design Fund is to support undergraduate exposure to experiential learning; the fund will help students gain the practical experience that will distinguish BU engineers as they enter the workforce.

“It’s great to see continued enthusiasm among students in BTEC and EPIC,” says Daniel Maneval, a consultant in the early research and development of biopharmaceuticals and a member of the college’s West Coast Alumni Leadership Council. “Hands-on experience differentiates engineers from theorists. The Senior Design Fund provides flexibility for the college and provides students with technological expertise and hands-on experience for what’s next. It will help them define what they want to do.”

Other major donors to the Senior Design Fund include Nirav Arvind Dagli (ENG’92,’96); Mikhail Gurevich (ENG’07, Questrom’12); Kimberly E. Samaha (ENG ’89) and Richard D. Reidy (Questrom’82).

—MICHAEL SEELE

fundamental contributions to the field of physics, achievements that lie at the interface of fundamental and applied science.”