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Prof. Al Bovik has been named the recipient of the 2017 Edwin H. Land Medal awarded by The Optical Society (OSA), co-sponsored by the Society for Imaging Science and Technology (IS&T). Al was recognized for “substantially shaping the direction and advancement of modern perceptual picture quality theory, and for energetically engaging industry towards transforming his ideas into global practice. The Edwin H. Land Medal "recognizes pioneering work empowered by scientific research to create inventions, technologies and products.”

Engineers and scientists at The University of Texas at Austin and the AMOLF institute in the Netherlands have invented the first mechanical metamaterials that easily transfer motion effortlessly in one direction while blocking it in the other, as described in a paper published on Feb. 13 in Nature. The material can be thought of as a mechanical one-way shield that blocks energy from coming in but easily transmits it going out the other side.