February 28, 2006, Piscataway, NJ--The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) will award Frederick J. Leonberger its 2006 IEEE Photonics Award, to be presented on March 7 at OFC/NFOEC 2006 in Anaheim, CA. He will be honored for his technical leadership, commercialization, and practical deployment of photonic component technologies for optical communications. Leonberger will also give the Keynote Address for the 2006 Photon Forum being held April 24-26 in Cambridge, MA.
According to a press release from the IEEE, Leonberger helped to create many photonic component and module technologies that significantly advanced the field of fiber optics communications, including high-speed telecommunications and cable television. He also helped develop key components for fiber optic sensors, including fiber gyros, and for various other laboratory and custom products.
In 1995, after holding positions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Lexington, MA, and at the United Technologies Research Center in East Hartford, CT, he joined JDS Uniphase in San Jose, CA, and became senior VP and CTO. There, he led the strategic technology activities of the company that helped JDSU become a leader in the optical telecommunications marketplace. Today, he heads his own technology advisory firm, EOvation Technologies LLC, in West Hartford, CT, and is a Senior Advisor at the MIT Center for Integrated Photonic Systems.
An IEEE Fellow, Leonberger is a past president of LEOS. He received an IEEE Third Millennium Medal and the LEOS IEEE Quantum Electronics Award. He also is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering.
Leonberger holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and master's and doctoral degrees from MIT, all in electrical engineering.