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Bell Labs Researcher Wins Tyndall Award

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PARIS, Jan. 28, 2010 - Alcatel-Lucent has announced that Dr. Randy Giles, director of the optical subsystems and advanced photonics department at Bell Laboratories, has received the 2010 John Tyndall Award, one of the most prestigious commendations in the optical telecommunications community.

The award, sponsored by the Optical Society of America (OSA) and the IEEE Photonics Society, recognizes Giles for “seminal contributions to advanced lightwave communications networks.”

These contributions include his work with erbium-doped fiber amplifiers, fiber Bragg grating-based subsystems and MEMS cross-connects.

Named for the 19th-century scientist who first demonstrated the phenomenon of total internal reflection, the Tyndall Award recognizes an individual who has made pioneering, highly significant or continuing technical or leadership contributions to fiber optics technology.

Of the 24 Tyndall Awards given since the program’s inception in 1987, nearly half have been accorded scientists who made their discoveries and innovations while at Bell Labs. Other Tyndall Award winners from Bell Labs include Joe C. Campbell, Robert W. Tkach and Emmanuel Desurvire.

Giles is a graduate of the universities of Victoria and Alberta, both in Canada. Before joining Bell Labs in 1986, he worked on Nortel’s first gigabit optical transmission system. In 2008, he was honored by the Finnish government as Millennium Technology Prize laureate for development of the erbium-doped fiber amplifier. He won the Fraunhofer Award & Burley Prize in 2004 and was presented the Discover Award in 2000 for the invention of the MEMS-based optical cross-connect switch.

For more information, visit: www.alcatel-lucent.com  
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Published: January 2010
Glossary
erbium-doped fiber amplifier
An optical fiber that can be used to amplify an optical input. Erbium rare earth ions are added to the fiber core material as a dopant in typical levels of a few hundred parts per million. The fiber is highly transparent at the erbium lasing wavelength of two to nine microns. When pumped by a laser diode, optical gain is created, and amplification occurs.
fiber bragg grating
A fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is a type of optical filter that is inscribed or "written" into the core of an optical fiber. It consists of a periodic modulation of the refractive index along the length of the fiber. This modulation forms a grating structure that reflects a specific wavelength of light while transmitting others. Key features of FBGs include: Periodic modulation: The refractive index of the optical fiber's core is periodically modulated, creating a series of alternating high...
Alcatel-LucentAmericasBell LaboratoriesBusinessCommunicationsDiscover AwardEmmanuel Desurvireerbium-doped fiber amplifierfiber Bragg gratingfiber opticsFraunhofer Award & Burley PrizeIEEE Photonics SocietyJoe C. CampbellJohn Tyndall AwardMEMSMillennium Technology PrizeNortelOptical Society of AmericaOpticsOSARandy GilesRobert W. TkachUniversity of AlbertaUniversity of Victoria

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