14 DAY TRIAL // Experts from the Arizona State University announce that the Center for Photonics Innovation, a new facility dedicated to research in numerous fields of science, has just been opened at the university.
The new facility's main focus will be on research and education, which experts believe can bring about advancements in communications, computing, medical technologies, environmental management and so on.
Opening the CPI is part of the university' expanding research, education and entrepreneurial endeavors, officials at the university explain. Photonics engineering and science are the main areas of interest.
Also very important in the new Center will be providing graduate and undergraduate students with numerous research opportunities, “that will better prepare them for future careers,” says Yong-Hang Zhang.
The expert, who is a professor in the ASU Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering (IFSE) School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, says that the field of photonics will have priority.
But the Center itself will also combine university research and teaching resources in electrical engineering, physics, materials science, engineering, and bioengineering, experts say.
“We’re committed not only to achieving new discoveries and promoting commercialization of emerging technologies, but to a high academic standard for developing our students into first-rate science and engineering scholars and researchers,” Zhang adds.
He explains that the field of photonics basically involves learning how to generate and control most forms of light, ranging from infrared to ultraviolet.
Zhang, who will lead the new Center, says that the researchers who have already been accepted to work there have attracted more than $7 million in research awards in the past two years for ASU.
It is expected that the CPI will be awarded various awards and grants by the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and other governmental organizations.
There is at this point a vested interest in lasers and photonics, and a lot of money are being channeled into this field of research, especially in the United States.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is also providing various funding programs for this type of studies. Given the prestige of experts now working at the CPI, undoubtedly the Center will become a hub for innovation, ASU officials say.