RIT Microsystems Engineering Program Director Honored

Mustafa Abushagur, director of the microsystems engineering Ph.D. program at Rochester Institute of Technology, was selected a fellow of SPIE-The International Society for Optical Engineering, for achievements in optical communications, optical computing and optics education.

Abushagur's research “ranks among the best in the field of optical computing and processing,” according to the society's fellows committee, which also cites his work on fiber-optic and micro-photonic devices.

The founding director of RIT's microsystems engineering Ph.D. program, Abushagur was also elected a fellow of the Optical Society of America for contributions to optical signal processing, fiber telecommunications and pioneering engineering academic programs. Abushagur also established an undergraduate program in optical engineering at the University of Alabama, Huntsville, which is currently the only program of its kind in the nation sanctioned by ABET, an accrediting organization. He has developed more than 15 undergraduate and graduate courses in optics, and he founded two optical components and networking companies.

Abushagur also recently received a Space Act award from the NASA Inventions and Contributions Board for having a patent application selected for filing with the U.S. patent office for his invention, MEMS-Micro-Translation Stage With Indefinite Linear Travel Capability.