Greta Babakhanova (Kent State Univ): Materials/Experimental

For her outstanding work on nematic elastomer coatings demonstrating the ability to program different surface profiles to the elastomer coating via its nematic director. It highlights general principles underlying this design mechanism by directly relating surface topography to the bend and splay of the director field and identifying the role of topological defects.

Clarissa Dietrich (Univ of Stuttgart): Chemistry/Experimental

For her deep understanding of the interplay between chirality and elasticity in both lyotropic and thermotropic liquid crystals. It concerns the development of chiral structures in liquid crystals and the effects of the confinement by interfaces, magnetic field, elasticity, and chirality.

Devesh Mistry (Univ of Leeds): Materials/Experimental

For his outstanding work on designing and synthesizing new acrylate liquid crystal elastomers and the development of mechanically switchable lenses for vision correction. His work is important not just in the context of liquid crystals, polymers and soft matter, but more broadly in auxetic materials and biomaterials.

Lisa Tran (Univ of Pennsylvania): Physics/Experimental

For her outstanding work on the geometric confinement introducing complex defect structures and revealing new insight into liquid crystal self-organization. Her work exploits an elegant interplay of topological constraints and geometric frustration to guide the formation of unexpected self-assembled complex structures.

Danqing Liu (Eindhoven Univ of Technology)

For her outstanding achievement in stimuli-responsive liquid crystals and liquid crystal coating systems in a wide range of applications covering from soft robotics and advanced optics to healthcare systems. The diversity of her research will make her hold the leadership in the field.

Alenka Mertelj (Jozef Stefan Institute): Physics/Experimental

For the discovery of both magnetic and electric polar order in nematic phase and new spatially modulated splay nematic phase that has macroscopic electric polarization. Her scientific achievement will stimulate the research on ferronematics and modulated phases.

Torsten Hegmann (Kent State Univ): Chemistry, Materials/Experimental

For his pioneering research and leadership in the field of nanomaterial-liquid crystal interfaces, focusing on the surface chemistry of numerous metals, metal oxides and semiconductor nanomaterials. He is one of the leaders in chiral synthesis with a strong future and made outstanding contribution to the synthesis of hybrid and chiral materials.

Hideo Takezoe (Tokyo Institute of Technology)

For his outstanding contributions to liquid crystal science and technology, the discovery of the antiferroelectricity in liquid crystals and the polar phases formed by achiral bent-core mesogens, both opened completely new directions in liquid crystal
research and inspired numerous scientists from physics, chemistry, and engineering, from theory, experiment, and applications. His scientific achievement and continued leadership have made significant contributions to the advancement of the liquid crystal community over the world.

Oleg Lavrentovich (Kent State University)

For his outstanding achievement in research in the field of liquid crystals and continued community services to the international liquid crystal society.