Two UT Dallas faculty members have been elected fellows of the Optical Society of America for their pioneering work in decidedly high-tech areas of the field of optics.

  • Dr. Duncan MacFarlane was recognized for his “contributions to advancing integrated optics and their applications, including photonic filters, advanced displays and micro-optics.”
  • Dr. Lakshman Tamil was recognized “for significant contributions to the design and development of multi-terabit switches using photonic-electronic hybrid sub-wavelength switching.”

Both are professors of electrical engineering in the University’s Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science.

MacFarlane’s research projects have included work in micro-optics, ultrafast lasers, photonic integrated filters, nonlinear optics, semiconductor lasers and advanced displays.

His work in photonic filters is used widely by other engineers. He also pioneered the manufacture of micro-optics using ink-jet techniques, and he invented a novel three-dimensional volumetric display that’s used in the aerospace industry.

Tamil is founder of Yotta Networks Inc., which designed and marketed terabit-switching platforms. Prior to that he directed research on advanced optical networks at the Alcatel Corporate Research Center, and he was a leader in creating both the optical IP router and a multichannel, multipoint distribution service that was a precursor to WiMAX. He has also been an optical and wireless communication consultant to the Naval Research Laboratories, Raytheon Co., Electrospace Systems Inc. and others.

“Professors Tamil and MacFarlane are among the founding faculty of our Electrical Engineering Department, and their fellowship in the Optical Society of America is well-deserved recognition of their path-breaking contributions to the field of optics,” said Dr. Cy Cantrell, senior associate dean of academic affairs in the Jonsson School and a fellow of the society himself.