University of Southampton opening center for photonics, electronics

The largest photonics and electronics institute in the UK was officially opened at the University of Southampton in September. The Zepler Institute, a multidisciplinary center, will allow more than 300 researchers in photonics, advanced materials and quantum technologies to build on the university’s discoveries in photonics and electronics for communications. The institute was named for professor Eric Ernest Zepler, a radio receiver development pioneer who founded the Department of Electronics and Computer Science at University College Southampton (now the University of Southampton) in 1947. The institute’s director is professor Sir David Payne, Optoelectronics Research Centre director and fiber optics pioneer.