Pavel Cheben has made pioneering contributions to photonics and integrated optics science and technology, in particular the discovery of a new type of optical waveguide based on subwavelength grating engineering. This work is of great importance in advanced silicon photonics integrated circuits. He also contributed to the discovery of static Fourier-transform on-chip spectrometer leading to ultra-compact spectroscopic instruments, and contributed innovations in the technology of the evanescent field waveguide sensors and engineering applications in genomics and pathogen detection. He has also made exceptional contributions to the engineering profession by organizing major international conferences.