by Lori Brandt, UCI Samueli School of Engineering

May 21, 2020 – Samueli School biomedical engineering graduate student researcher Jason Chen has been awarded a 2020 Optics and Photonics Education Scholarship ($3,000) from SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, for his potential contributions to the field.

Chen’s research involves developing innovative optical methods to functionally view and assess the upper airway, eye and coronary arteries. As a doctoral candidate, Chen works in the Functional Optical Coherence Tomography Lab of Zhongping Chen, professor of biomedical engineering. He collaborates closely with Dr. Brian Wong, professor of otolaryngology, and Dr. Andrew Browne, assistant clinical professor of ophthalmology.

“I am very grateful for the insightful guidance from my research advisers as well as the support from the BME and BLI leadership,” said Chen. “I want to give my appreciation to my colleagues and friends, who spend days and nights in the lab with me to push our research forward. This scholarship will provide me additional opportunities for traveling to conferences and attending advanced seminars, and I will do my best to become a better scientist in the field of biophotonics.”

Chen is one of 78 students to receive the SPIE education scholarship this year. Since it began, SPIE has distributed over $6 million dollars in individual scholarships, reflecting the society’s commitment to the next generation of optical scientists and engineers around the world.

Read full UCI Samueli School of Engineering article.