The Photon Chasers

Mohammad Karim, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Dartmouth

On Zoom only

Zoom Information

Zoom:https://rochester.zoom.us/j/95276747247?pwd=WlBieEFIWUg2N0Y3bDFsa25KcFZCQT09
Meeting ID: 952 7674 7247
Passcode: 964579

Abstract

The earliest use of light as signal or in communication can be traced to use of mirrors, fire beacons, and smoke signals. This presentation will highlight and describe major milestones leading up to 12th century that contributed to the evolution of both geometrical and physical optics and how this affected our current understanding of astronomy, coherence, and signal transmission. The major players behind this maturation of photonics, who had lived and worked in areas that now lies in Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Greece, India, Iraq, Iran, Spain, and Syria, will be discussed along with their works and discoveries in chronological order. The speaker will show that this process, that relied once only on philosophical discourses culminated in both experimentation and analysis, was a function of concurrent evolution of number systems, algebra, and analytical geometry. 

Biography

Mohammad Karim is a professor of electrical and computer engineering at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. He had served also as the University’s Provost, Executive Vice Chancellor, and Chief Operating Officer for 7 years. Previously, he was VP Research of Old Dominion University, Dean of Engineering at CUNY, Head of ECE at the University of Tennessee, and Director of Electro-Optics at the University of Dayton. Karim’s research interests include optical information processing, displays, pattern/target recognition, and ultrafast computing. He is an author/co-author of 19 books, 13 book chapters, and 360+ peer-reviewed articles, and 36 journal special issues. He is an elected fellow of IEEE, Optica, SPIE, Institute of Physics, Institution of Engineering & Technology, AAIA, and Bangladesh Academy of Sciences. Karim received his BSc Honors in Physics from Dacca University in 1976 and MS in Physics, MS in Electrical Engineering, and PhD from the University of Alabama respectively in 1978, 1979, and 1982.