In January 2019, the International Society of Optical Engineering (SPIE) announced a list of newly elected fellows for the year 2019, including eight Chinese scientists, which contains Cao Liangcai, an associate professor in the Department of Precision Instrument in Tsinghua University.

Founded in 1955, the International Society of Optical Engineering is an authoritative internationally professional organization in the field of optics. The selection process to select the member of the International Society of Optical Engineering is very strict, and only the ones who have made outstanding contributions in the fields of optics, photonics and etc. are awarded. A total of 88 scientists from all over the world were included in the list.