Dr. Khan Iftekharuddin is stepping down as senior editor at Optical Engineering, after fifteen years of service to the journal. He has played a pivotal role in our journal leadership. As the use of machine learning has seen an explosion in the field of optics for image analysis and processing, Dr. Iftekharuddin’s high level of expertise has helped OE define and maintain its scope in this specialized area. As senior editor, he has helped ensure that submitted papers are initially evaluated by a true expert in the field and can find their way to the right associate editors and in turn the right peer reviewers.

Dr. Iftekharuddin’s academic credentials have grown significantly since he first joined OE. He is now professor and Batten Endowed Chair in Machine Learning in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at Old Dominion University (ODU). He served as chair of the ECE Department at ODU for 2013-2017, associate dean for Research and Graduate Studies (ADR) for 2017–2021 and has been serving as an interim dean at Batten College of Engineering and Technology since 2021.

As a researcher, Dr. Iftekharuddin has also advanced to the top of his field as he advanced the ODU Vision Lab, which he has directed since 2011. His research interests include computational modeling, AI and machine learning, stochastic medical imaging analysis, radiogenomics for precision medicine, biologically inspired human-machine interaction and recognition, and sensing and cyberphysical systems among others. His lab has consistently ranked among the top four teams in Global Brain Tumor Segmentation and Patient Survivability Prediction Challenges co-organized by MICCIA and NCI since 2014. He has served as the PI for over $18 million externally funded research projects and successfully led multiple national and international collaborative research projects. Different federal and private funding agencies and industries such as NSF, NIH, NASA, ARO, AFRL, NAVY, US DOT, the Whitaker Foundation, FedEx, and Timken Research among others have funded his research. He holds four US patents as co-inventor. He is author of one book, several book chapters, and nearly two hundred refereed journal and conference papers. He has recently been cited among the top 2% of the most cited researchers worldwide throughout their careers, 2020, Research by Stanford University. Dr. Iftekharuddin coauthored a book titled Digital Image Processing. He is the principal author of about two hundred refereed journal papers and conference proceedings; and eleven book chapters respectively. He is a fellow of SPIE and a senior member of both IEEE and OSA.

I would like to extend my deepest thanks to Khan. I have greatly appreciated his steady hand as senior editor in my first years leading the journal. He has overseen a crucial area and helped us ensure that we were able to maintain our journal’s focus and scope in an area of research that has risen so dramatically in recent years. I wish him well in his future endeavors, and I am sure he will continue his track record of excellence.

We would like to welcome our new senior editor, Dr. Daniel LeMaster. Dr. LeMaster has been with OE since 2017, when he joined our board as an associate editor. He will bring his expertise in image processing to his new role. Dr. LeMaster recently took on the position of senior scientist for sensors and perception at the Highly Automated Systems Safety Center of Excellence within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, U.S. Department of Transportation. This is an exciting position as driverless cars are beginning to appear on our roadways. Dr. LeMaster has been an SPIE member for over ten years, rising to the rank of senior member in 2017 and recently elected SPIE fellow in 2023. It is with great enthusiasm we welcome Dan to the board!