Those who travel on Science Drive have had to endure some aggravation from recent construction, but one of the biggest reasons for their trouble is well underway--the University's multimillion-dollar Fitzpatrick Center for Photonics and Communications Systems.
The new addition to the Pratt School of Engineering, projected to open in fall 2004, represents one of the University's latest drives to reach the cutting edge of engineering technology.
"I couldn't be happier about the progress [of the photonics center]," said Pratt Dean Kristina Johnson. "We have broken ground on the new building, hired several outstanding faculty members, started laboratories in photonics and built bridges to the [Trinity College of] Arts and Sciences and School of Medicine."
Photonics, defined as the transmission of information encoded on light, is a technology sparking hope for the revival of the telecommunications market and interest in an optically-based communications industry.
Financially supported by over $2 million in corporate cash and another $2 million in federal grants, the photonics center has been growing in leaps and bounds since its conception in December 2000.
"The atmosphere is quite dynamic," said Robert Guenther, associate director of education for the center. "We have all the headaches of growing. For example, we don't have enough people on board. It's like falling out of a window--it's okay until you hit the ground."
The center is on-track with its five-year plan to reach maximum capacity��at which point the building should be finished and the other components of the center's development plan accomplished. Such goals include creating a more hands-on approach to engineering, increasing the strength of the master's degree program and developing student coalition initiatives.
"Our goal at the photonics center is to create a natural integration of digital and physical space, with an emphasized focus on optical networks, biophotonics and information spaces," said David Brady, director of the center and professor of electrical and computer engineering. "Most of the research for the physical layer of systems was accomplished 30 to 40 years ago. Now the question is, 'How do you use the system to incorporate both aspects optimally?'"
Drawing on a multidisciplinary approach to the study of photonics, the center incorporates electrical engineering, physics, biomedical engineering and practical experience through interaction with corporations in the Research Triangle Park. Although there are about 10 photonics centers currently in existence, Duke's center is unique in its emphasis on research in private industry.
Pratt is No. 1 in the nation for corporate support and the photonics center enjoys a particularly strong relationship with Nortel Networks, among other private telecommunications firms interested in photonics.
"In the last 20 years, technology has become part of our everyday lives. The importance of the corporate relationship is the idea that while historically, engineering was tied to government programs, it's private companies that are doing a lot to bring the new technologies to the public," Brady said.
Undergraduate research opportunities at the photonics center also exist and are encouraged. "We are very supportive of undergraduate researchers. An important advantage of [the center] being located here is especially the capabilities of the undergraduates at Duke," Brady said.
The University has also been instrumental in the medical aspect of photonics research. Current research at the center includes developing optical sensors that spectroscopically investigate tissue and using optics to do blood tests without actually drawing blood as well as to perform rapid-screening of blood alcohol levels.
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