George Barbastathis
ProfessorGeorgeBarbastathishasestablishedaninternationally-recognizedresearchprograminthree-dimensional(3D)opticalengineering.Hisresearchactivitiesarecenteredoninformationoptics—theprocessingandanalysisofinformationbysystemscomposedofoptical,mechanical,andcomputationalelements.ProfessorBarbastathis’workisfocusedonfundamentalresearchandapplicationdevelopmentwithintwoprincipalareas.Thefirstisdigitalholographyandvolumeholographyforimagingofcomplexbiologicalandfluidicsystems.Thesecondissubwavelengthopticalengineeringusingnovel3Dassemblymethods,suchasnanostructuredorigami.Nanostructuredorigamileveragesprecisionpatterningbytwo-dimensionallithographywithfoldingtoachieve3Dstructuresprimarilyforoptics,butalsoforsensingandenergystorage.ProfessorBarbastathisdevelopedandpopularizedanopticscurriculumwithintheDepartmentofMechanicalEngineering.Hisjointundergraduate/graduatecourse2.71/2.710hasbeenofferedcontinuouslyforadecadenow,attractingstudentsfromacrosstheSchoolofEngineeringandotherschoolsatMIT.