Infinera’s Welch Wins Tyndall Award

This year’s John Tyndall Award is going to Dr. David F. Welch, co-founder and executive vice president/chief strategy officer at Infinera.

The Tyndall Award, named for the 19th-century scientist who was the first to demonstrate the phenomenon of internal reflection, is the optical community’s highest honor. It is co-sponsored by the Optical Society of America and the IEEE Photonics Society. Corning Inc. endows the award, a glass sculpture that represents the concept of total internal reflection. 

Welch was chosen for his “many contributions to the optical communication systems field, including his key role in the development and manufacture of photonic integrated circuits, the development and commercialization of high-power semiconductor lasers, high-efficiency Nd:YAG lasers, fiber lasers and amplifiers, and devices associated with non-linear optical materials. In addition, Welch was also heavily involved in the development of materials and fabrication techniques used in semiconductor laser systems.”
 
“I’m honored to win the Tyndall Award,” says Welch, who will accept it next month during the plenary session of the 2011 Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exposition/National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (OFC/NFOEC) in Los Angeles. “This is a recognition of the achievement of the entire Infinera team, who have developed and commercialized a technology that will have a lasting effect on our industry and communications worldwide.”