Prof. Ming Wu has been named recipient of the IEEE Photonics Society 2016 William Streifer Scientific Achievement Award. This award recognizes an exceptional scientific contribution that has had significant impact in the field of lasers and electro-optics. Prof. Wu is being recognized for his pioneering contributions in micro-opto-electro-mechanical systems (MOEMS). Prof. Wu invented “optoelectronic tweezers” (OETs), which use projected optical images to dynamically create conductive regions which in turn produce local dielectrophoretic forces that can trap biological cells. OET-based systems can be used to select, manipulate, and analyze thousands of individual cells in parallel. They are being used today for antibody discovery, cell-line development, and single-cell genomics.