Howard (Ho Wai) Lee

Howard Lee is currently a Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UC Irvine. Before joining UCI in 2020, he was an Associated Professor in the Department of Physics at Baylor University and IQSE Fellow and visiting professor in the Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering (IQSE) at TexasA&M. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Caltech, working with Prof. Harry Atwater in active plasmonics/metasurfaces. He received his PhD in Physics from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light in Germany in 2012 under the supervision of Prof. Philip Russell. His current research focuses on active linear, nonlinear, and quantum plasmonic/metasurface/zero-index optics, bio/quantum photonics and imaging, “meta”-fiber optics, and hybrid photonic-plasmonic on-chip optical devices. His work on nano-optics, plasmonics, and photonic crystals has led to more than 60 journal publications in various journals, such as Science, Science Advances, Nano Letters, Advanced Materials, ACS Photonics, and Laser & Photonics Reviews as well as 100 invited talks and 200 conference papers. Dr. Lee is a recipient of a 2025 Optica Fellow, a 2025 IEEE Photonics Society Distinguished Lecturer, a 2024 SPIE Fellow, 2023 Finalist of Moore Inventor Fellow, a 2023 UCI Beall Innovation Award in Physical Sciences, a 2023 SONY Focused Research Award, a 2022 Finalist of Moore Inventor Fellow, a 2021 iCANX Young Scientist Awarcd, 2021 Finalist of Rising Stars of Light, 2020 SPIE Rising Researcher, a 2020 Baylor Outstanding Professor Award, a 2019 DARPA Director’s Fellowship, a 2019 IEEE OGC Young Scientist Award, a 2018 NSF CAREER Award, a 2017 DARPA Young Faculty Award, a 2018 OSA Ambassador, a 2017 APS Robert S. Hyer Award, a 2018 Baylor Young Investigator Award, a 2016 Baylor Proposal Development Award, and a 2012 Croucher Postdoctoral Fellowship. 

He has strong passion in promoting optical sciences and physics to students and the general public, and in serving for the professional communities. He organized more than 25 technical sessions in nanophotonics/metasurfaces in international conferences (Optica, MRS, META, PQE, IEEE) and serves as Lead Symposium Organizer for plasmonic/metasurface symposiums at 2019-2026 MRS Fall Meeting and 2020-2026 MRS Spring Meeting (organized > 2200 presentations). He is  2025 Vice Chair for APS Far West Section. He was Founding Associate Editor for OSA Continuum and currently serves as Associate Editor for Scientific Reports and Photonics journals. He is a Fellow of Optica and SPIE.