Congratulations to Professor Volker Sorger the 2016 winner of Hegarty Award for Faculty Innovation. This is the second year of this award. It was created by Aran Hegarty and his wife Fritz. Aran is a SEAS alumnus (MS, 1997) and has been a NAC member since 2011. The award, which is $10,000, is to recognize and reward a faculty member for innovation.
The selection committee met on Tuesday September 13th. And in the words of the committee: “The committee selected Dr. Sorger for his innovative research in the field of optics and photonics, including his invention of the world’s smallest and most efficient laser. His inventions have potential applications in a number of diverse fields, including data networking, surgery, and virtual reality. Dr. Sorger’s research is widely published, and he has been awarded multiple federal research grants totaling over $3M. Dr. Sorger has also taken the necessary steps to commercialize his research by working closely with the GW Office of Technology Commercialization, filing seven invention disclosures during his tenure here, and participating in the National Science Foundation I-Corps program multiple times. He is an ardent supporter and advocate of both undergraduate and graduate students in innovative and entrepreneurial activities both in and out of the classroom."