Tittel awarded IEEE Medal for Environmental and Safety Technologies

Frank Tittel, Rice’s J.S. Abercrombie Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and professor of bioengineering, has been named a co-recipient of the 2018 IEEE Medal for Environmental and Safety Technologies for his pioneering contributions to the quantum cascade laser and optical chemical sensors for environmental sensing.

The IEEE bills itself as “the world’s largest technical professional organization for the advancement of technology.”

Frank Tittel

Tittel joins a select group of individuals recommended by the IEEE Awards Board for prestigious honors. The medal, established in 2008, is given for outstanding accomplishments in the application of technology in the fields of interest to IEEE that improve the environment and/or public safety.

Tittel will be presented with the medal at the 2018 IEEE VIC Summit May 11.

For nearly a century, the IEEE Awards Program has paid tribute to researchers, inventors, innovators and practitioners whose exceptional achievements and contributions have made a lasting impact on technology, society and the engineering profession.

Tittel, who joined the Rice faculty in 1967, has been involved in innovative developments in quantum electronics and laser technology since the invention of the laser in 1960. His team specializes in creating state-of-the-art, field-deployable laser spectrometers that use the latest computer and telecommunications technology and novel quantum cascade lasers. Tittel has worked with NASA’s Johnson Space Center to develop instruments for monitoring air and water quality aboard the International Space Station; with the Environmental Protection Agency for urban formaldehyde monitoring; and with the National Institutes of Health for noninvasive detection of nitric oxide and carbon monoxide in biomedical applications.