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Past Event

Commercializing Innovation: Prof. Federico Capasso and Eos Photonics

September 28th, 2017 ~ 12:00pm - 01:30pm

Haller Hall (Room 102), Geological Museum, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA

Join us to hear this start-up story that began in a Harvard lab. Hosted by OTD and by the FAS Office of Postdoctoral Affairs.

Register Here

The Commercializing Innovation speaker series is primarily intended for Harvard University faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students who are interested in learning about technology commercialization, careers outside of academia, and scientific entrepreneurship. However, the event is open to all.


Quantum Cascade Lasers

In 2010, Eos Photonics was founded by Professor Federico Capasso, Dr. Mark Witinski, Dr. Christian Pfluegl, and Dr. Laurent Diehl to design and build Quantum Cascade Lasers, which are particularly useful in chemical detection, since most molecules absorb infrared light very strongly in the infrared, as well as in emissions compliance and healthcare. The Harvard-launched startup later merged with another company to form Pendar Technologies.

Pendar Technologies is an early-stage product development company. Using multiple laser platforms, including Quantum Cascade Lasers and Raman Spectroscopy, the company is developing portable spectroscopic products for various markets. These include: material identification, flow chemistry, and improved microscopy methods for researchers and pathologists.

About the Speakers

Professor Federico Capasso is the Robert L. Wallace Professor of Applied Physics and Vinton Hayes Senior Research Fellow in Electrical Engineering at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (http://www.seas.harvard.edu). Professor Capasso's research cuts across several disciplines in basic physics, applied physics and engineering, which include optics, semiconductor physics, mesoscopic physics, solid-state electronics, optoelectronics and micromechanics. A unifying theme of his research is the quantum design and study of new artificial materials and nanostructures with man-made electronic and optical properties, an approach that Professor Capasso pioneered and dubbed bandstructure engineering. The recipient of numerous international awards and honors, Professor Capasso is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (UK), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the International Society for Optical Engineering, the Optical Society of America, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, and the American Physical Society. He is a Member of the National Academy of Sciences and of the National Academy of Engineering.

Dr. Mark F. Witinski completed his doctorate in chemical physics at Cornell University in 2006, where his work centered on using molecular beams and laser spectroscopy to examine the dynamics of molecular collisions. He then spent over five years as a Research Associate in the laboratory of Prof. Jim Anderson at Harvard. There, he was focused on innovative approaches to Mid-IR spectroscopy using Quantum Cascade Lasers. Dr. Witinski served as co-founder and President of Eos Photonics prior to the merger to form Pendar Technologies. At Pendar, he focuses primarily on applications development, business to business strategic partnerships, and Government sales. He is a Fulbright Scholar and has authored numerous publications in fields such as chemical physics, trace detection, and laser development.

Press Contact: Kirsten Mabry | (617) 495-4157

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