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 Yasuhiko
Arakawa
IEEE/LEOS 2004 William Streifer Scientific Achievement Award Recipient
Yasuhiko Arakawa received B.S., M.S., and PhD degrees in the electrical
engineering form the University of Tokyo, in 1975, 1977, 1980, respectively.
In 1980, he started his academic career by joining University of Tokyo
as an assistant professor and was promoted to a full professor in 1993.
He is now Professor of Research Center for Advanced Science and technology,
University of Tokyo.
He is also the director of Nanoelectronics Research Center at Institute
of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo as well as Research Professor
at NTT. His current research includes growth and physics of semiconductor
nanotechnologies for optoelectronic device applications such as quantum
dot lasers and various nanostructure devices.
He is the recipient of many awards including Niwa Memorial Award, Excellent
Paper Award from IECE, Young Scientist Award, International Symposium
on GaAs and Related Compound Semiconductors, IBM Award, Distinguished
Achievement Award from IEICE, Hattori Hoko Award, Sakura-Kenjiro Award
from OITDA, Electronics Award from IEICE, and Nissan Science Award.
He has been serving several distinguished international conferences
as general chairs including the 17th IEEE Semiconductor Laser Conference
. He was Associate Editor of IEEE J. of Quantum Electronics and Editor
in Chief of Journal of Japanese Society of Applied Physics, and he is
currently Editor in Chief of Solid Sate Electronics and Regional Editor
on New Journal of Physics(IOP). He is in charge for planning the optoelectronics
technology-roadmap at the OITDA.
 Marina
M. Meliga
IEEE/LEOS Engineering Achievement Award Recipient
Marina Meliga is the device R&D manager at Turin Technology Center
- TTC of Agilent Technologies. She is based in Turin (Italy) but she
has strong links to other key Agilent Technologies sites: San Jose and
Palo Alto (CA) for R&D and Singapore for transfer to manufacturing
of edge emitter lasers. She holds a doctorate in Physics (1981) from
the University of Turin and she is a Senior Member of IEEE.
After her doctorate and until 1984, she stayed at Physics Department
of the University of Turin, working on modeling and processing of silicon
electronic devices, like high power diodes and tyristors, with a grant
from the Italian National Research Council.
In 1984 she joined the Optical Technology Department of CSELT (Centro
Studi e Laboratori Telecomunicazioni), the corporate research center
of Telecom Italia. Her new assignment has been modeling and fabrication
of Lithium Niobate waveguides and modulators. From 1987 she has been
engaged in design, simulation and development of InP based devices:
optical waveguides and lasers. In 1988, as a key player of an informal
team, she fabricated her first ridge DFB laser.
In 1992 Marina became responsible of the Laser Research Unit, while
continuing to be directly involved in device design. During those years
the team moved from LPE (Liquid Phase Epitaxy) to MOCVD (Metallo-Organic
Chemical Vapour Deposition) growth technique to improve the chances
for eventual transfer to manufacturing of prototypes devices.
With her team, from early 90s, she developed all the building blocks
required for competitive long wavelength laser devices: strained MQW
active layers, optical and electrical confinement structures based on
semi-insulating materials, static and dynamic modeling tools, static
and dynamic characterization techniques, technological expertise for
monolithic integration of different functions.
By using these building blocks the following state of art devices have
been fabricated: 1550 nm DFB lasers, FGL (Fiber Grating Lasers) for
WDM and OTDM applications, SSC (Spot Size Converter) Fabry Perot lasers,
medium tunable (10-12 nm) DBRs and widely tunable (40 nm) monolithic
laser.
In 1999 the Optical Technology Department of CSELT was spun off as a
new company: Optical Technology Center, OTC. Agilent Technologies acquired
OTC in April 2000.
After the acquisition Marina Meliga became the responsible of the European
III-V devices R&D team, developing 10 Gb uncooled DFB and 10 Gb
PIN for datacom. Agilent Transceivers XENPAK, the first 10 Gb transceivers
available on the market, was launched on September 2001, including Marina’s
chips. Marina Meliga and her team are currently focused on the development
of new materials and structures for higher operating temperature lasers.
In the past Marina Meliga has been involved in a few European Projects.
Since 1990 she has been lecturer at the Politecnico of Turin for regular
courses on Optoelectronic and Electronic Technologies.
Marina is author of more than 70 papers (including regular and invited
presentations at international conferences and papers for technical
and scientific magazines) and she holds five patents.
Outside work, in her spare time Marina enjoys skiing, hiking and traveling
with her son Daniele (12 years old) and her husband Emiliano to discover
wonderful natural places.
Statement
I am very pleased to receive the LEOS Engineering Achievement Award
and I am grateful for this honor. I consider myself a very “concrete”
person, I always look for “making things happen”, so, to me,
the Engineering Achievement Award is really the highest recognition.
I am very grateful to both Agilent and my team. Agilent has offered
me the challenge and the opportunity of combining telecom performances
with datacom costs in real devices for real customers.
My team of 40 creative engineers met the challenge, inventing, executing
and delivering high impact technologies and state of art (and commerce)
devices. With many of them we have done a very long path together. Device
engineering and technology development are a real teamwork. Mutual trust
and respect among the team members as well as strong know-how are equally
important. I want to share this award with my team.
 Gordon
W. Day
IEEE/LEOS Distinguished Service Award Recipient
Gordon Day retired in 2003 as the Division Chief of the Optoelectronics
Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Since
then he has remained professionally active as a consultant, writer,
and IEEE volunteer. In 2005 he will serve as an IEEE Congressional Fellow.
Day held a variety of research and management positions at NIST, starting
as an NRC Postdoc in 1969 after receiving a Ph.D. from the University
of Illinois. Early in his career he participated in work on laser frequency
measurements that led to a 100-times more accurate determination of
the speed of light and eventually enabled a new definition of the meter.
Following that, he helped develop new instruments used in laser radiometry
and helped start research programs on optical fiber communications and
the use of optical techniques for electrical measurements. In 1994 he
became the first Division Chief of the NIST Optoelectronics Division,
which develops measurement technology and provides standards and traceability
for the industry.
He has been an active IEEE and LEOS volunteer for over 15 years. He
was elected to the LEOS Board of Governors in 1994, and has served as
Treasurer, VP of Finance and Administration, and President. He has also
served the IEEE more broadly as a member of the Technical Activities
Board (TAB), the Membership Development Committee, and the Section-Chapter
Support Committee, and as a liaison between the Technical and Regional
Activities Boards. He is currently a member of the TAB Finance Committee.
He has served on advisory boards for many industrial, educational, and
governmental organizations, on academic committees at universities in
the U.S. and abroad, as an associate editor, and on the management committees
for major conferences, including the Optical Fiber Communications Conference
(OFC). He is a Fellow of the IEEE, the Optical Society of America, and
the Institute of Physics (UK).
Statement
I am honored to be recognized among of the many volunteers who collectively
make LEOS an outstanding professional organization. Working with a dedicated
staff in the LEOS Executive Office, our volunteers manage and oversee
many of the most important publications and conferences in our field
and a variety of other member services. But volunteers also gain from
their contributions. Our rewards include greater leadership and management
experience, a broader understanding of our field, professional camaraderie,
and the knowledge that we’ve contributed to our technical community.
In many respects, volunteer service is a selfish act, and I commend
it to all.
 Christoph
Harder, Volker Graf, and Eberhard Latta
IEEE/LEOS Aron Kressel Award Recipients
Eberhard Latta received his Diplom degree in Physics in 1973 at the
Technical University of Hannover, Germany. He continued his education
at the University of Munich, Germany where, in 1976, he received his
Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry with research work on the interaction of
simple molecules with solid surfaces. From 1976 to 1978, he was a research
staff member at the Nuclear Research Establishment (Kernforschungsanlage)
Julich Germany; during this time he investigated surface diffusion on
metals and segregation effects.
In 1978, Eberhard Latta joined the Josephson Computer Technology group
of the IBM Zurich Research Laboratory, Switzerland. Drawing on surface
science, he endeavored to establish an understanding of the tunnel barrier
chemistry and to optimize processing. This resulted in the creation
of a process for high quality refractory tunnel junctions. Upon completion
of this project in 1983, he redirected his research efforts towards
GaAs, initially to the area of field-effect transistors, later to laser
technology. Using surface analysis on laser facets he identified the
origin of laser mirror degradation and established a strongly improved
passivation procedure.
After successful application of this passivation scheme to 980-nm laser
diodes, Eberhard Latta focused on developing high volume production
tools, required for commercial application of the process. From 1997
up to his retirement in 2001 he worked for Uniphase Laser Enterprise
Zurich, Switzerland (later: Nortel Networks, Zurich) in the area of
semiconductor laser fabrication.
Statement
Having been chosen as one of the 2004 Aron Kressel Award Winners is
very satisfying for me and, in addition a little bit surprising, since
my “contributions to the high reliability, high power” have
not been obvious to the award giving committee: nothing of my work has
ever been published. On the other hand, this shows me that somehow this
work was realized by the laser community, and that lets me feel proud.
Thank you very much!
Volker Graf: After studying Physics, he received his PhD from the University
of Stuttgart in 1979. He has spent 2 years as a Post Doc at the IBM
Almaden Research Center in San Jose, then one year at the Max Plank
Institute in Stuttgart before joining IBM in 1982.
As Department Head at the IBM Resarch Lab in Rueschlikon /Switzerland,
Volker Graf was responsible for R&D of semiconductor lasers within
IBM. He has started a laser pilot line at IBM East Fishkill and is the
co-founder of Laser Enterprise an IBU within IBM Research which was
spun out 1997 as a new company of JDSU manufacturing 980nm pump lasers.
He has served as the General Manager of this new company during 1997-2001
and built a new laser manufacturing line in Zurich.
Christoph Harder accepted the award at LEOS 2004 on behalf of E. Latta
and V. Graf.
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TOOLS
Tips for Making Writing Easier
Part 3: Focus on Your Key Message
In the last two columns we discussed quick ways to structure your
writing to ensure that you tell your readers what they want to
know in a format they can easily follow. Now we come to the writing
itself: putting one word after the other. To choose the best words
and place them in the most readable order, focus on your message.
What exactly are you trying to say? If you find yourself getting
tangled up in fuzzy words and complicated structures, stop and
ask yourself just that: What am I trying to say? Don’t write
a thing until you are satisfied with your answer. Then try the
following suggestions.
Trust your voice.
Don’t just trust it—use it. Say your sentences to yourself
(quietly!) before you commit them to the paper or screen. Mouth
them, whisper them; utter them any way you choose but do not put
them on paper until you have heard them. After a while you will
find that you hear them in your mind as you write them. Then you
can dispense with the embarrassing mumbles.
This is the most important rule for clear and simple writing.
Almost all the puffy polysyllabic verbiage people produce in the
name of business or technical writing would never arrive to torture
its readers if the writers had been forced to say the message
out loud first. Can you imagine yourself saying, “Per our
discussion, enclosed are copies of the documents referenced in
our conference paper”? Of course not! You would probably
say, “Here are the three articles you requested,” and
then list the titles, thus giving the reader more information
in much easier language.
Don’t worry about sounding too informal if you trust your
voice. Inappropriate or inelegant words will jump out at you as
you read over your piece (which you must always do). In the example
you might have said, “Here are the three articles you asked
to see.” Although this is still not nearly as bad as the
original pompous statement, it could be smoother. Check your action
words. If you find strings of small words (like asked to see),
try to substitute a single verb (like requested).
Put your main thought in the main parts of the sentence: the
subject, verb, and object.
Because we tend to think and speak directly, you will usually
follow this rule if you trust your voice. Overcomplicated, wordy
writing almost always violates it. It is an easy rule to test,
and it can clarify your sentences most wonderfully. Here is an
example.
The fact that we rewarded all ideas in the brainstorming meeting
had the effect of inducing more solutions.
Here the subject is fact, the verb had, and the object effect.
The result— fact had effect—is meaningless. Let’s
try a rewrite.
Rewarding all ideas in the brainstorming meeting produced more
solutions.
Here the subject is rewarding, the verb produced, and the 0object
solutions. The result—rewarding produced solutions—captures
the essence of the sentence.
Put the most important words at the end of the sentence.
In English, the last words get the most emphasis. To get the reader
to focus on the main point of your sentence, try to put it there.
Consider some famous sentences:
To be or not to be, that is the question (Shakespeare). When you
come to a fork in the road, take it (attributed to Yogi Berra).
Either that wallpaper goes, or I do (said to be the last words
of Oscar Wilde).
Now look what happens if we reverse the order:
The question is whether to be or not to be.
Take a fork in the road when you come to it.
Either I go or that wallpaper does.
Enough said.
Cheryl and Peter Reimold have been teaching communication skills
to engineers, scientists, and business people for more than 20
years. Their firm, PERC Communications (+1 914 725 1024, perccom@aol.com),
offers businesses consulting and writing services, as well as
customized in-house courses on writing, presentation skills, and
on-the-job communication skills. Visit their Web site at http://www.allaboutcommunication.com.
The article in the Career Section “Tools” is gratefully
reprinted with permission from the authors as well as with permission
from the IEEE Professional Communication Society Newsletter editor
Rudy Joenk. This article is reprinted from the July/August 2003
issue, Volume 47, Number 4, page 10 of the IEEE PCS Newsletter.
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