Wax Named Editor-in-Chief of SPIE Journal Optical Engineering

10/23 Pratt School of Engineering

Duke BME’s Adam Wax will assume the role of Editor-in-Chief beginning January 1, 2021

Wax Named Editor-in-Chief of SPIE Journal Optical Engineering

Adam Wax, a professor of biomedical engineering at Duke University, will become the new editor-in-chief of Optical Engineering, a journal published by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics.

According to David Sampson, the chair of the SPIE Publications Committee and pro-vice-chancellor of Research and Innovation at the University of Surrey, Wax was ideal for this position due to the depth of his expertise in optical engineering, his academic rigor and his commercial experience with several successful startups.

Wax specializes in using optical spectroscopy for early cancer detection, novel microscopy and interferometry techniques. Recently, Wax developed a new imaging device that can measure both the thickness and texture of various layers of the retina at the back of the eye. Researchers are optimistic that this tool could be used to detect a biomarker of Alzheimer’s disease, potentially offering a widespread early warning system for the disease.

Beyond this work, Wax and his lab have also designed a low-cost, portable optical coherence tomography (OCT) scanner, which performs clinically accurate eye scans and can be easily transported to underserved regions around the globe. This scanner provided the basis for Wax’s most recent startup, Lumedica Inc., which recently received a Phase II SBIR grant from the National Science Foundation.

“I am very excited to be taking on the role of editor-in-chief at Optical Engineering,” says Wax. “I’ve been an associate editor for the journal for many years and it is a great new challenge to be in the EIC role. I know OE is a go-to resource for many of us in the field, and I will be working to make sure that it continues to be valuable for optics and photonics engineers in academia and industry research.”

Optical Engineering is one of 12 journals published by SPIE, which serves more than 255,000 constituents from 183 countries, offering conferences and their published proceedings, continuing education, books, journals, and the SPIE Digital Library.

View SPIE’s announcement on their site.