Prof. May-On Tjia, the initiator of ISMOA meeting series and co-founder of the Indonesian Optical Society, passed away on 5 November 2019. The late Prof. May-On Tjia received his Bachelor of Physics from Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), Bandung, Indonesia in 1962, and continued at Northwestern University in the United States of America, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1969 in particle physics. Gradually, his research interests shifted to conjugated polymers, superconductors, laser spectroscopy, and to modern optics. He worked on these topics productively until the end of his life. Prof. May-On Tjia never even considered stopping doing science: after his retirement as a Professor from ITB in 2005, he still informally supervised students in the Physics of Magnetism and Photonics Research Divisions, and was involved in research on laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy in the Maju Makmur Mandiri Research Center, Jakarta.
Prof. May-On Tjia was a Senior Member of The Optical Society (OSA) and received several national awards. In 2007, he was the recipient of “Anugrah Sewaka Winayaraha” award from the Indonesian government for distinguished service to higher education in Indonesia. In 2009 he was awarded the “Ganesa Cendikia Widya Adiutama” award from the Institut Teknologi Bandung for unusually wide-ranging internationally published research contributions in material physics. He was the recipient of “Achmad Bakrie Award 2012” award from the Freedom Institute for exceptional contribution to the scientific research output of Indonesia and the development of research culture in Indonesia, and of the “Sarwono Award 2016” award from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) for outstanding contribution to the results of scientific research and dedication in developing a research culture in Indonesia.
The May-On Tjia Lecture series is created to commemorate his scientific legacy which is based on more than 50 years (1966-2019) of research. During times when only scant research funding was available Prof Tjia did not keep his research brain idle (this was the term he used to use), and never ceased to do research, so he was ready whenever opportunities arose. The second May-On Tjia Lecture on Modern Optics is organized by the Physics of Magnetism and Photonics Research Division of the Institut Teknologi Bandung in collaboration with the Organizers of the 14th International Symposium on Modern Optics and Its Applications 2023. The May-On Tjia Lecture on Modern Optics will be incorporated in the program of this conference and in that of future ISMOA conferences.
Considering the broad spectrum of Prof. Tjia’s interests that encompass Optics and Magnetics, the May-On Tjia Lecture will be delivered by scientists working in one of these areas, and who share Prof. Tjia’s values of building a deep-rooted research culture in his/her environment and demanding high-quality research from themselves and from their collaborators. In ISMOA 2023, the May-On Tjia Lecture will be delivered by Dr. Koo Hendrik Kurniawan, the Research Director at Maju Makmur Mandiri Research Center, who will give a talk on Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS).
Previous May-On Tjia Lecturer
2021 : Prof David Marpaung (Univ. of Twente, Netherlands) – Programmable Photonic Chips.