Science AMA Series: I research new hardware and technology for internet
communications and optical computers, I’m Daniel Blumenthal, AMA!
Abstract
Hi! I’m Daniel Blumenthal, a Professor of Electrical and Computer
Engineering specializing in optical communications and photonic
integration at the University of California – Santa Barbara, Fellow of
the National Academy of Inventors, The Optical Society (OSA) and of the
IEEE. Today’s high-speed optical communications technologies work to
accelerate the way we work, live and play by connecting people and
computers around the world over high speed communication pipes. My lab
develops new hardware and communications technologies to solve complex
communications, transmission, switching and signal processing problems
out of reach with today’s technologies. The primary undertaking of our
research is to develop new functions integrated on small chips called
photonic circuits, and use these circuits to build networks in ways that
save energy and increase the scale of connectivity and bandwidth of data
centers and the Internet. We are, in theory, greening future networks
while allowing them to scale to accommodate future applications and the
systems that rely on those networks. I am a Professor in the Department
of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California,
Santa Barbara and Director of the Terabit Optical Ethernet Center (TOEC)
and head of the Optical Communications and Photonic Integration (OCPI)
group (ocpi.ucsb.edu). I have served as PI for large-scale research
programs including DARPA/MTO funded CSWDM, LASOR and iPhod projects at
UCSB. In addition, I have served on the Board of Directors for National
LambdaRail (NLR) and Internet2 Architecture Advisory Council. I have
co-founded two companies, Packet Photonics, Inc and Calient Networks. My
research interests are in optical communications, photonic packet
switching and all-optical networks, ultra-low loss optical waveguides
and silicon nitride photonics circuits, all-optical wavelength
conversion and regeneration, ultra-fast communications, InP Photonic
Integrated Circuits (PICS) and nanophotonic device technologies. I have
published over 410 journal and conference papers, 5 book chapters, and
co-authored a leading book on tunable lasers. I have served on technical
program committees of international conferences including the conference
on Optical Fiber Communications (OFC) and as guest editor for multiple
journal special issues. I will be back at 1 pm ET to answer your
questions, and I look forward to sharing with you today. Feel free to
Ask Me Anything!