Wolfgang Fink

Wolfgang Fink
Fink in February 2017
Born	Limburg an der Lahn, Germany
Nationality	US Citizenship
Alma mater	University of Tübingen (Ph.D. 1997) University of Göttingen (B.S. 1990, M.S. 1993)
Awards	NAI Fellow (2023) SPIE Meinel Award (2023) USDOE/NREL E-ROBOT Prize 2021 ARVO Silver Fellow (2023) SPIE Fellow (2020) PHMS Fellow (2018) Aimbe Fellow (2012) IEEE Senior Member (2015) da Vinci Fellow University of Arizona (2015) ACABI Fellow University of Arizona (2017)
Scientific career
Fields	Autonomous systems Biomedical engineering Brain–computer interface C4ISR systems Smart systems Stochastic optimization Telemedicine Tier-scalable reconnaissance Vision science
Institutions	University of Arizona, California Institute of Technology, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, University of Southern California

Wolfgang Fink is a German-American theoretical physicist.[1] He is currently an associate professor and the inaugural Maria & Edward Keonjian Endowed Chair of Microelectronics at the University of Arizona.[2] Fink has joint appointments in the Departments of Electrical & Computer Engineering,[3] Biomedical Engineering,[4] Systems & Industrial Engineering,[5] Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering,[6] and Ophthalmology & Vision Science[7] at the University of Arizona. He is the current Vice President of the Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) Society.[8][9]

Research career & education

Fink has a B.S. (Vordiplom, 1990) and M.S. (Diplom 1993) degrees in physics and physical chemistry from the University of Göttingen, Germany, and a Ph.D. "summa cum laude" in theoretical physics from the University of Tübingen, Germany (1997).[10][11] He was a senior researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (2001–2009). He was also a visiting associate in physics at the California Institute of Technology (2001–2016), where he founded Caltech's Visual and Autonomous Exploration Systems Research Laboratory.[12][13] He also held concurrent appointments as Voluntary Research Associate Professor of both Ophthalmology and Neurological Surgery at the University of Southern California (2005–2014).

Active research areas

Fink is a specialist in the areas of autonomous systems, biomedical engineering for healthcare, human/brain-machine interfaces, and smart service systems. In particular, his research focuses on autonomous robotic systems for hazardous environments, C^4ISR architectures (Tier-Scalable Reconnaissance), vision prostheses for the blind, smart mobile and tele-ophthalmic platforms, ophthalmic instruments and tests, self-adapting wearable sensors, cognitive/reasoning systems, and computer-optimized design.

Fink was a principal investigator of the United States Department of Energy's (USDOE's) "Artificial Retina" project[14] (2004–2011), a multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary CRADA-based effort to develop an implantable microelectronic retinal device that restores useful vision to people blinded by retinal diseases (Retinitis pigmentosa and Macular degeneration). Furthermore, Fink is Caltech's founding Co-Investigator of the NSF-funded Center for Biomimetic Microelectronic Systems (2003–2010), awarded in 2003 to University of Southern California, Caltech, and UC Santa Cruz. The center enacted the only FDA-approved visual prosthesis to date (Argus retinal prosthesis or ARGUS II).[15]

Honors & awards

• Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), Class of 2023[16] for having "demonstrated a highly prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on the quality of life, economic development, and welfare of society".[17]
• Recipient of the 2023 SPIE Aden and Marjorie Meinel Technology Achievement Award "for pioneering, sustained contributions to the development of transformational opto-medical examination and device technologies, with particular focus on visual prostheses for the blind, ophthalmology, and tele-ophthalmology."[18]
• Co-winner of USDOE/NREL-sponsored E-ROBOT Prize 2021 (Phase 1: $200,000),[19] an American-Made Challenge, to devise building envelope retrofit solutions that make retrofits easier, faster, safer and more accessible for workers. The team "wall-EIFS" co-led by Fink devised "wall-EIFS: a robotically applied, 3D-sprayable exterior insulation and finish system (EIFS) for building envelope retrofits."[20]
• Recipient of the inaugural Scott Clements Most Valuable Person (MVP) Award of the Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) Society (2020).[21][22]
• ARVO Fellow, Class of 2023.[23][24][25]
• Fellow of SPIE (inducted in 2020) "for achievements in vision science for the blind and tele-ophthalmic healthcare worldwide".[26][27]
• Fellow of the Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) Society (inducted in 2018).[28]
• ACABI Fellow 2017 recognizing "faculty that are strongly active in innovation related to ACABI", the Arizona Center for Accelerated BioMedical Innovation at the University of Arizona.[29]
• da Vinci Fellow 2015 for "innovative, productive and highly recognized engineering research" at the University of Arizona.[30]
• Senior Member IEEE
• College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) (inducted in 2012) "for outstanding contributions in the field of ophthalmology and vision sciences with particular focus on diagnostics and artificial vision systems".[31]

Patents

Fink has been awarded 31 US and international patents to date in the areas of autonomous systems, biomedical devices, neural stimulation, MEMS fabrication, data fusion and analysis, and multi-dimensional optimization.[32]

References

1. "Wolfgang Fink: The 2023 SPIE Aden and Marjorie Meinel Technology Achievement Award". SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics. January 11, 2023. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
2. "Phonebook". UA Directory. June 14, 2023.
3. "Wolfgang Fink". October 19, 2011.
4. "Wolfgang Fink". June 11, 2012.
5. "Wolfgang Fink". January 28, 2020.
6. "Wolfgang Fink". March 18, 2013.
7. "Wolfgang Fink, PhD | Ophthalmology Department". eyes.arizona.edu.
8. "Officers". Retrieved December 22, 2021.
9. "Wolfgang Fink Named VP of Prognostics and Health Management Society". December 23, 2020.
10. "Wolfgang Fink". Electrical and Computer Engineering. October 19, 2011. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
11. Stoltz, Michael (July 18, 2023). "Scientist Wolfgang Fink to Outline Mars Cave & Lava Tube Exploration & Comms during Mars Society Convention". The Mars Society. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
12. "Welcome to the Visual and Autonomous Exploration Systems Research Laboratory".
13. "Visual and Autonomous Exploration Systems Research Laboratory |". www.vaesrl.com. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
14. "About the Artificial Retina Project".
15. "FDA Approves First Bionic Eye for the Blind".
16. Rittenhouse, Rebekah (December 12, 2023). "NAI Announces 2023 Class of Fellows". NAI. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
17. "Two UArizona faculty elected to the National Academy of Inventors". December 11, 2023.
18. "SPIE Aden and Marjorie Meinel Technology Achievement Award". SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
19. "E-ROBOT Prize". americanmadechallenges.org. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
20. "Submission". www.herox.com.
21. "Bios and Descriptions of PHM Society Contributors". Retrieved December 22, 2021.
22. "Fink Receives PHM Society's Inaugural Scott Clements MVP Award". November 30, 2020.
23. "ARVO Fellows Class of 2023". The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
24. "Vision Society Adds Forward-Looking Professor to 2023 Class of Fellows". December 2022.
25. "Fink Selected as Fellow of Vision Research Association". December 14, 2022.
26. "Wolfgang Fink". spie.org.
27. "SPIE Selects Wolfgang Fink as 2020 Fellow". January 21, 2020.
28. "The Key to Healthy Humans, Safe Spacecraft and Prospering Plants". October 29, 2018.
29. "Wolfgang Fink Named ACABI Fellow for Biomedical Research and Advancements". February 2, 2018.
30. "Wolfgang Fink Named da Vinci Fellow for 2015". December 7, 2014.
31. "Wolfgang Fink, Ph.D. COF-1416 – AIMBE".
32. "Wolfgang Fink Inventions, Patents and Patent Applications". Justia Patents Search. June 6, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2023.