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UMBC’s Technology Research Center (TRC) building looks nondescript on the outside, but inside it is home to researchers who are exploring the limits of the Internet like pioneers and explorers of old.

The Optical Fiber Communications Laboratory is just one of a growing number of top research centers at UMBC focusing on fiber optics and photonics - the science of transmitting electronic information in the form of light through hair-thin tubes of drawn glass. By pushing the boundaries of the Internet’s capacity to carry information, professors and doctoral students at the lab are working to help data travel faster, more clearly and more efficiently on the next generation of the Internet.

Led by UMBC computer science and electrical engineering professors Curtis Menyuk, Gary Carter, Ray Chen and Li Yan, the Optical Fiber Communications Lab is home to 15 researchers and graduate students from around the world. “In recent years, the graduate programs in optics and photonics have attracted some of the best young men and women in the world,” says Menyuk. “Potential employers know how good our students are and are eager to hire them. Our graduates have gone on to develop outstanding careers in academia, government, and industry. ”The lab has strong connections to the fiber optics and photonics industry in Maryland, including companies such as Corvis, Tycom Limited, VPI Systems, Ciena and Photonex. UMBC researchers also work with colleagues at the Army Research Lab, the University of Maryland, College Park and MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory.

Several of UMBC’s grad students at the Optical Fiber Communications Lab have received international acclaim for their research that has prepared them well for future careers in public or private sector careers.

• In November 2002, Ronald Holzloehner, a native of Germany, was honored as one of only six student fellows in the U.S. by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ (IEEE) Laser and Electro Optics Society. Holzloehner traveled to Scotland to receive the award, which is not only highly prestigious, but perhaps even more important to the average graduate student, also came with a cash award.
• Russian native Oleg Sinkin has won the best student paper award at the IEEE-LEOS annual meeting and another honor for a presentation at an Optical Society of America annual meeting.
• In addition to several contributed journal and conference publications, Brazilian Ivan Lima, Jr. has presented an invited talk at the Conference on Laser and Electro Optics, one of the most prestigious international conferences in his field. He has developed computer codes for the modeling of optical communications systems that are currently used by government laboratories and companies in the U.S.

The optical fiber lab is only one facet of a strong program in advanced photonics, fiber optical communications and quantum optics research at UMBC. Over the past decade, faculty and graduate student research in the field has developed in several departments, including Computer Science/Electrical Engineering, Physics and Mathematics / Statistics. In June 2002, this expertise at UMBC was recognized with a $3 million NASA grant to establish the Center for Advanced Studies in Photonics Research (CASPR) to enhance and build on the strong programs in photonics research at UMBC. Drawing upon faculty and graduate students from multiple departments, CASPR provides opportunities for multidisciplinary research. It operates through major support from federal agencies and companies in the Baltimore-Washington corridor that recognize UMBC’s leading capabilities.

On January 21, CASPR hosted researchers and business leaders from around the country at the “Frontiers of Photonics Research” forum, whose guest speakers included Corvis Corp. CEO David Huber and former American Optical Society president Anthony Johnson.

“CASPR is an outgrowth of years of ground-breaking photonics research at UMBC that is supported by the federal government and the excellent private companies in the Baltimore-Washington corridor,” says Dr. Robert Schiffer, interim administrator of CASPR. "The fact that such a prestigious group of scientists is gathering here speaks volumes about how UMBC and this region are increasingly being seen as the place to be for the future of photonics research.”