New field brings
$1 million boost
to UH engineers
The University of Hawaii College of Engineering will receive $1 million with an endowed professorship in a hot area of commercial technology -- photonics.
Photonics basically converts light signals to electrical signals for communications and myriad other purposes.
"This is a very specialized area, the emerging area for the next decade for research," said Wai-Fah Chen, dean of the College of Engineering.
Advanced Photonics Integrated Circuits, based in Los Angeles, pledged to give $500,000 to the college through the UH Foundation and to help the university raise another $500,000.
The photonics professorship was created by APIC with the foundation, College of Engineering faculty and UH-Manoa Institute for Astronomy to establish an electro-optics and adaptive optics program.
In addition:
>> The company's senior engineers will assist in developing and teaching photonics courses at UH and provide an additional $100,000 to support research projects in exchange for specific work by College of Engineering faculty and students.
>> Engineering and astronomy faculty and graduates will have access to a photonics laboratory being developed in Kakaako by APIC with a clean room to fabricate silicon and silicon on insulator-based devices, and package photonics and microelectromechanical-based chips.
Chen said a national search will be conducted to fill the professorship, which will strengthen the college's Hawaii Center for Advanced Communications.
"This is very good for us. I think this will speed up our development," he said.
APIC President James Chan said, "UH is on the cutting-edge of optical and laser technology, which can provide our organization with the strong research capabilities necessary to be a leader in the industry of photonics."
Vassilis Syrmos, associate dean of the College of Engineering, said the endowment establishes a technical and business relationship between UH and APIC in the area of photonics and electro-optics.
"The technology they have is truly outstanding technology. It has a lot of potential," Syrmos said.
Syrmos noted that APIC has done a substantial amount of work with the U.S. Department of Defense.
He said the company is bringing in expensive equipment for the photonics laboratory, which he expects to be open in January in the renovated facility at Kakaako.
The company also is considering participating with the UH College of Engineering in building a new facility at Kakaako, Syrmos said.
Chen said the engineering faculty's expertise and knowledge combined with APIC's resources and business know-how "will make for a powerful partnership that will position our program among the best in the country."
The company may consider relocating to Hawaii if things develop as expected, Chen added.
