Carmen Menoni

Carmen Menoni is a University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Colorado State University, with joint appointments in the Department of Chemistry and School of Biomedical Engineering. She earned her B.S. in Physics from the University of Rosario (1978) and Ph.D. in Physics from Colorado State University (1987). Her research advances laser technologies through dielectric materials for ultra-high intensity optics, impacting fusion energy and astrophysical detection systems.

Her core research investigates transparent dielectric materials to develop state-of-the-art interference coatings. Key focus areas include:

• Extreme ultraviolet/soft x-Ray photonics for precision instrumentation
• Nano-scale microscopy/spectrometry for material characterization
• Ion beam sputtering techniques for coating deposition
• Optical interference coatings for gravitational wave detectors and fusion lasers

As Director of the RISE hub (DOE-funded Inertial Fusion Energy initiative), she leads a multi-institutional consortium accelerating fusion energy technologies and workforce development. She co-founded XUV Lasers Inc., commercializing advanced laser systems from CSU research.

Honors include:

• Joseph Fraunhofer Award/Robert M. Burley Prize (2024)
• Willis Lamb Award for Laser Science (2024)
• IEEE Women in Photonics Award (2023)
• Fellowships: Optica, IEEE, APS, AAAS, SPIE

She served as IEEE Photonics Society President (2020-2021) and contributes to editorial/governance boards across photonics organizations.