NIF & PS People - 2014

July

Zhi Liao Achieves OSA Senior Member Status

NIF&PS physicist Zhi Liao has been named a senior member of the Optical Society of America (OSA), an international society for optics and photonics scientists, engineers, educators and business leaders.

Senior membership status recognizes members with more than 10 years of significant experience and professional accomplishments or service in their fields. The designation recognizes their experience and professional accomplishments or service within their field that sets them apart from their peers. “This is a great honor and I am very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time,” Liao said. “Working at LLNL with unbelievably dedicated colleagues has taught me so much in so many ways.”

Liao received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in optical engineering from the University of Rochester before joining LLNL in 2001. His research expertise is in nonlinear optics, adaptive optics and laser-induced optic damage. He has contributed to many of LLNL’s successful laser projects, including the Fiber Laser Guide Star, Alkali Laser, Advanced Radiographic Capability, the Mercury Laser and NIF. Currently, Liao is developing models for predicting optics lifetime for NIF.

Zhi Liao (right) demonstrates the principle of total internal reflection using a laser light fountain during a recent Science & Engineering Festival in Washington, DC.

Liao also serves as the director for the NIF Summer Scholars program, and he has developed a number of laser demonstrations for NIF that have been successfully displayed at the Lawrence Hall of Science, AAAS LaserFest 2010, local Bay Area schools and other events. “Being able to start my career working on NIF is an incredible blessing,” he said. “How many people can say that they are working on a world-class science and technology facility that will change the world for the better?”

For more information, see his Profile.