What the World Would Be like Without Photonics
(PhysOrg.com) -- Photonics, the science of manipulating light, has changed the world with electrifying speed. The technology has spawned everything from DVD players and Internet communications to ultra high data rate server farms for massive computer operations such as Google.
Robert Norwood, a professor at the University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences will address the changes photonics has brought at the next Science Café at the Cushing Street Bar and Restaurant in Downtown Tucson.
Science Café is sponsored by Flandrau: The UA Science Center.
Norwood is a world expert in polymer integrated optics and optical materials. H e has written more than 50 refereed publications and has 26 U.S. patents. At Optical Sciences he researches high speed electro-optic modulators, integrated magneto-optic devices, 3-D display technology, nanoimprinting, organic photovoltaics, plasmonic infrared emitters, photonic crystal techniques and devices, and ultrafast optical switching among other areas.
He also is the industrial collaboration director for the Center for Integrated Access Networks (CIAN), an NSF-funded Engineering Research Center focused on developing critical technologies for next-generation optical communication systems. He also consults for companies in the optical communications and advanced materials industries.
Norwood was vice president and chief technology officer at Photon-X, Inc., a venture capital-funded photonics startup company in Malvern, Penn. The company set the record for the lowest-loss single-mode polymer waveguides ever developed at 1550nm. He led research and development groups at AlliedSignal (Honeywell) where his group developed aerospace qualified polymer waveguide technology that was the best in the world at the time.
Norwood has been a conference chair or co-chair for Organic Thin Films for Photonics Applications and Linear and Nonlinear Optics in Organic Materials, and has served on the program committee for both OFC and CLEO, among others. He is a fellow in both the Optical Society of America and SPIE, as well as a member of the American Physical Society, and serves on numerous related organizations. He has a doctorate in physics from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor's in physics and mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Shipherd Reed will moderate the event and promises to wrap things up by 7:30 p.m., will keep the discussion lively and on track. Following the program, audience members will have the opportunity to submit discussion topic ideas for subsequent Science Café events.
Seating is limited and on a first come, first served basis. Food and drink can be purchased at the restaurant.
Provided by University of Arizona
