Sir Charles Kao Kuen was an electrical engineer and physicist who pioneered the development and use of fiber optics in telecommunications. In the 1960s, Kao created various methods to combine glass fibers with lasers in order to transmit digital data, which laid the groundwork for the evolution of the Internet.
Shirley Ann Jackson, is an American physicist, and was the 18th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She is the first African-American woman to have earned a doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Theoretical Elementary Particle Physics, and the first African-American woman to have earned a doctorate at MIT in any field. She is also the second African-American woman in the United States to earn a doctorate in physics.
The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) is a public research university in Huntsville, Alabama. The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and comprises nine colleges: arts, humanities & social sciences; business; education; engineering; honors; nursing; professional & continuing studies; science; and graduate. The university's enrollment is approximately 10,000. It is part of the University of Alabama System and is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities: Very High Research Activity".
Gregory Hammond Olsen is an American entrepreneur, engineer and scientist who, in October 2005, became the third private citizen to make a self-funded trip to the International Space Station with the company Space Adventures.
The Applied Systems Laboratory (ASL) is one of eight labs in the Georgia Tech Research Institute and one of three labs under the Electronics, Optics, and Systems directorate. This laboratory, located in Huntsville, Alabama, primarily supports the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center in its aviation and missile R&D efforts.
Ernst Stuhlinger was a German-American atomic, electrical, and rocket scientist. After being brought to the United States as part of Operation Paperclip, he developed guidance systems with Wernher von Braun's team for the US Army, and later was a scientist with NASA. He was also instrumental in the development of the ion engine for long-endurance space flight, and a wide variety of scientific experiments.
Peter C. Schultz is an American academic who is co-inventor of the fiber optics used for telecommunications. He is retired President of Heraeus Tenevo Inc., a technical glass manufacturer specializing in fiber optics and semiconductor markets, and retired Chief Technical Officer North America for Heraeus Holding GmbH. In 2001, he was elected as a member into the National Academy of Engineering for invention and development of manufacturing methods and glass compositions for low-attenuation glass fibers for optical communication.
Robert D. Maurer is an American industrial physicist noted for his leadership in the invention of optical fiber.
Kenneth O. Hill is a Mexican Canadian physicist who specializes in the field of photonics. In the late 1970s, he discovered the phenomena of photosensitivity in optical fiber and has worked extensively in its applications. He first demonstrated Fiber Bragg gratings and their applications in optical communication and optical sensor systems. Further areas of his discovery and innovation include the phase mask technique for grating fabrication, fiber grating dispersion compensators, and wavelength selective fiber filters, multiplexers and demultiplexers. This field of research has led to the ability to create high speed fiber optic networks as well as many other communication applications that have revolutionized the telecommunications industry.
DESE Research, Inc., is a veteran-owned, small-business firm conducting theoretical and analytical research services in the fields of Defense, Energy, Space, and Environment. DESE was formed in 1982 by former U.S. Army civil-service executive Dr. Wallace (Wally) Kirkpatrick. In addition to research accomplishments, DESE is recognized for high ethical standards and leadership in community services.
Gerald Jay (Jerry) Fishman is an American research astrophysicist, specializing in gamma-ray astronomy. His research interests also include space and nuclear instrumentation and radiation in space. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Fishman obtained a B.S. with Honors degree in physics from the University of Missouri in 1965, followed by M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in space science from Rice University in 1968 and 1970, respectively.
Stephen Arnold is a Professor of Physics and Chemical Engineering and the Thomas Potts Professor of Physics at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering. He is also an Othmer-Potts Senior Faculty Fellow. The focus of Arnold's research is developing ultra-sensitive bio-sensors and detection of single bio-nanoparticles from virus down to single protein molecules, using Whispering-gallery wave bio-sensors.
Chih-Kung Lee is a Taiwanese mechanical engineer. He received his B.S. degree in civil engineering from National Taiwan University and then obtained his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Cornell University, majoring in theoretical & applied mechanics, with a minor in physics. He is known as the inventor of modal sensors and actuators. In the past, he has been an advisor to the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Economic Affairs and various other governmental agencies, as well as the director general of engineering & applied sciences at Taiwan's National Science Council (NSC). Currently, he is the chairman of Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and Institute for Information Industry (III). He is also a distinguished professor of the Graduate Institute of Electronics Engineering, the Institute of Applied Mechanics (IAM) and the Dept. of Engineering Science & Ocean Engineering at National Taiwan University.
Warren Elliot Henry was an American physicist, a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science for his work in the fields of magnetism and superconductivity. He made significant contributions to the advancement of science and technology and education, training and mentoring several generations of physicists.
Xiaoyi Bao is a Chinese Canadian physicist, recognized for her contributions to the field of fiber optics. She is a professor at the University of Ottawa, where she holds the Canada Research Chair in Fiber Optics and Photonics. Bao was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Lethbridge; the citation for the honour called her "a world-renowned scholar in her field."
Wolfgang Fink is a German-American theoretical physicist. He is currently an associate professor and the inaugural Maria & Edward Keonjian Endowed Chair of Microelectronics at the University of Arizona. Fink has joint appointments in the Departments of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Systems & Industrial Engineering, Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering, and Ophthalmology & Vision Science at the University of Arizona. He is the current Vice President of the Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) Society.
Nash-Stevenson was born and raised in Lawrence County, Alabama. She graduated from Austin High School at the age of sixteen. She studied science and electronic and electrical engineering at Alabama A&M University in 1981. She was the first person to graduate from the Alabama A&M University physics masters program, where she was a NASA Fellow. She worked at Marshall Space Flight Center. Her professor, M. C. George, encouraged her to enter a PhD program. She was the first African-American woman to earn a doctorate in physics at the Alabama A&M University in 1994. During her postgraduate studies she had two children. She is three-times magna cum laude. At the time she was one of fewer than twenty African-American women with a physics PhD in the United States. She was a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. She worked on photon avalanche upconversion.
Govind P. Agrawal is an Indian American physicist and a fellow of Optica, Life Fellow of the IEEE, and Distinguished Fellow of the Optical Society of India. He is the recipient of James C. Wyant Professorship of Optics at the Institute of Optics and a professor of physics at the University of Rochester. He is also a Distinguished scientist at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) in the University of Rochester. Agrawal has authored and co-authored several highly cited books in the fields of non-linear fiber optics, optical communications, and semiconductor lasers.
Charles A. Lundquist was an early NASA scientist and program director. He managed research on satellites and rockets at the Army Ballistic Missile Agency, Marshall Space Flight Center, and Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. After retirement, Lundquist devoted his time to collecting and documenting early space program history, particularly that surrounding German rocket scientists in Huntsville, Alabama.
Marshall G. Jones is an American mechanical engineer, inventor, mentor, and teacher. Jones is currently a Coolidge Fellow at General Electric (GE) Global Research. He has been awarded more than 65 U.S. patents and is recognized as a pioneer for laser materials processing and a leading authority on fiber-optic laser beam technology. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Engineering and has been inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
