Leaders from the European space science and astronomy community have awarded Professor Thomas Bifano (ME) The Bepi Colombo Prize for his career-long research in micro-deformable mirrors for astronomical telescopes. Bifano received the prize during a day-long ceremony at the University of Padua in Italy on Feb. 14.

The prize is named for Giuseppe “Bepi” Colombo, an Italian scientist best known for his research on the planet Mercury and in whose honor the forthcoming space mission “BepiColombo,” a joint venture between the European Space Agency and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, is named.

“To receive a prize in honor of Bepi Colombo was very special,” Bifano said. “He really cared about the technology of astronomy, and made some important contributions to our understanding of celestial mechanics, especially concerning the resonance in Mercury's orbit.”

Bifano was among five finalists selected from a group of worldwide researchers to travel to Padua to compete for the prize. According to Roger-Maurice Bonnet, executive director of the International Space Science Institute, the criteria for the prize included achievements in research, education and technology transfer; innovative character; potential for new discoveries; impact on knowledge and education; quality of presentation; potential in medicine and defense; and match with the achievements of Bepi Colombo.

“The competition was exciting,” Bifano said. “The event truly had an international feel, with finalists from Israel, the United States and Sweden. All of the finalists are engaged in important, interesting work.”

The selection of Bifano was the culmination of a day-long event where Bifano and four other finalists presented their research and technology transfer activities to the panel of judges at the university’s Galileo Galilei Main Hall, named in honor of the famed astronomer and physicist who was chair of the university’s mathematics department from 1592 to 1610. The panel announced Bifano as the prize winner during a private philharmonic concert that evening.

“It is an incredible honor to be recognized for this award,” Bifano said. “It was thrilling to win, and deeply rewarding to be a finalist presenting my research about telescopes in a room named for Galileo, on the four hundredth anniversary of his first pointing a telescope toward the sky in Padova.”

Bifano, director of the Photonics Center, joined the College of Engineering in 1988 and served as chair of the Manufacturing Engineering Department from 1999 to 2006. He is a member of the University’s Center for Space Physics and the Fraunhofer Center for Manufacturing Innovation, and co-founded Boston Micromachines Corp., a business leader in the production of deformable mirrors for applications in astronomy, defense and bio-imaging.