On March 27, OPTICA (formerly the Optical Society of America, OSA) announced the recipients of the 2024 Corning Women Scholar Award in Optical Communications.
Liu Xiaomin, a PhD student from the Department of Electronic Engineering at the School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, was awarded this prestigious scholarship for her active involvement and academic contributions in the field of optical communications. This year, three female PhD students worldwide received this scholarship. Liu Xiaomin is the first student from mainland China to be honored since the establishment of the award and the only recipient from an Asia-Pacific university this year. Her advisor is Associate Professor Zhuge Qunbi.
Liu Xiaomin (far right) at the award ceremony with fellow recipients and staff
Recipient Profile
Liu Xiaomin graduated with a bachelor's degree from the Department of Electronic Engineering, School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, in 2020. She is currently a direct-entry PhD student (admitted through the Chu Ying Program) in the Optical Fiber Research Group, under the supervision of Associate Professor Zhuge Qunbi. Her primary research interests include digital twins and intelligent management in optical networks. She has published six first-author papers in journals such as Advanced Photonics, Journal of Lightwave Technology, and Journal of Optical Communication and Networking. Additionally, she has presented five first-author papers at OFC and ECOC conferences. Liu Xiaomin has received numerous awards, including the SPIE Optical and Photonic Education Scholarship, the National Scholarship for PhD Students (twice), the Intel Scholarship, the Outstanding Bachelor Thesis Award from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2020 (the only recipient from the Information Engineering major), and the Best Student Paper Award at the 2021 ACP conference. She has also been invited to deliver 30-minute talks at international conferences like APC NETWORKS and IEEE OGC.
Advisor
Zhuge Qunbi, tenured associate professor and PhD advisor in the Department of Electronic Engineering at the School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, is a recipient of the national-level high-level young talent award. His research focuses on coherent optical communications, intelligent optical networks, data center optical interconnects, and optical-wireless integration. He has published over 240 papers in internationally renowned journals and conferences. He has led and participated in several key R&D projects funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the National Natural Science Foundation. He has served as the S4 chair at OFC 2019, chair of the Optical Communications Group at OPTICA, editorial board member of Optics Express, Electronics Letters, and Springer Nature Optical and Quantum Electronics. He has delivered over thirty invited talks at international conferences such as OFC and ECOC. He was named one of MIT Technology Review's "Innovators Under 35" in China in 2020. His students have received numerous accolades, including the OFC Corning Outstanding Student Paper Award, OPTICA Corning Women Scholar Award, SPIE Education Scholarship, and the Best Student Paper Awards at ACP and APC conferences.
Liu Xiaomin (second from the right in the front row) with her research group at her undergraduate graduation in 2020
About the Scholarship
The OPTICA Corning Women Scholar Award in Optical Communications recognizes outstanding female PhD students worldwide in the field of optical communications, providing a $3,000 scholarship. The award is presented at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC), a top-tier event in the field, along with a $2,000 travel grant for each recipient.