birth_place nationality workplaces birth_date known_for article_title name alma_mater
riga , latvia american university of michigan 07 may 1936 co-inventor of leith-upatnieks holography juris upatnieks
 juris upatnieks university of akron university of michigan
juris upatnieks

juris upatnieks -lrb- born 7 may 1936 in riga -rrb- is a latvian-american physicist and inventor , and pioneer in the field of holography .
upatnieks fled the soviet occupation of latvia with his parents at the close of world war ii , seeking asylum in germany .
in 1951 the family emigrated to the united states .
he attended high school in akron , ohio , and studied electrical engineering at the university of akron , where he was awarded a bachelor degree in 1960 .
thereafter he studied at the institute of science and technology of the university of michigan , where he earned a master 's degree in electrical engineering in 1965 .
from 1973 to 1993 he worked at the environmental research institute of michigan and was an adjunct professor , electrical and computer engineering department at university of michigan in ann arbor .
there he taught a laboratory course in optics until 1996 .
from 1993 to 2001 he was a consultant with applied optics in ann arbor .
from 1996 to 2001 he was also a researcher with the faculty of mechanical engineering and applied mechanics at the university of michigan .
in 1964 he demonstrated , with emmett leith , the first three-dimensional holograms in the united states and together with leith published a series of technical papers from 1962 to 1964 .
as of 2009 upatnieks holds 19 patents .
among them is an holographic gunsight .
in 1975 he received the r. w. wood prize of the optical society of america and 1976 the holley medal of the american society of mechanical engineers .
he was named `` inventor of the year '' in 1976 by the american association for the advancement of invention and innovation .
he is a member of the optical society and of international society for optical engineering , as well as a member of the latvian academy of sciences , whose great medal he received in 1999 .
