By Lori Brandt, UC Irvine Samueli School of Engineering

Feb. 26, 2026 –SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, has recognized Vasan Venugopalan, as one of 40 new fellows in 2026. Venugopalan is chair and professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at UC Irvine. SPIE fellows are selected for making significant scientific and technical contributions in the multidisciplinary fields of optics, photonics and imaging. Venugopalan has achieved pioneering innovations in three research areas of biophotonics: laser ablation of biological tissues, pulsed laser microbeam interactions with cells, and computational biophotonics and dissemination of open-source software.

He also has made exceptional contributions in developing and implementing novel and impactful educational programs to support multidisciplinary training of students, researchers and industrial professionals in the area of biophotonics. His contributions have had tangible benefits for both UCI Ph.D. students across campus — impacting the Schools of Engineering, Physical Sciences, Biological Sciences and Medicine — as well as a larger population of academic and industrial researchers nationally and internationally.

Venugopalan’s efforts have resulted in the development of five extramurally funded ($6.5 million in total) multidisciplinary educational initiatives, each utilizing mixed methods, for intensive research education and training, coupled with professional development and technical and career mentorship. Examples include an NSF Integrated Graduate Education, Research and Training (IGERT) program, several NIH short courses and training programs in computational and biophotonics, and a UC/HBCU program for multidisciplinary research experience for undergraduate students.

“I’m tremendously honored to be recognized in this way and join a group of colleagues whose contributions and accomplishments I deeply respect,” said Venugopalan. His election was recognized in January at the Annual Fellows Luncheon at SPIE’s Photonics West Conference, the world’s largest conference in the field of optics and photonics.

Since SPIE’s inception in 1955, more than 1,800 SPIE members have become fellows.

Click here or visit https://bit.ly/vasan-named-spie to read full article on the UC Irvine Samueli School of Engineering website.

Author: Gabrielle Comfort