Charles Kao

Recognized as the "father of fiber optics," Kao did his pioneering work during a 10-year period beginning in 1960 as a research scientist, then manager, at Standard Telecommunications Laboratories Ltd., ITT's central research facility in the United Kingdom. Kao predicted the performance levels that fiber optics could attain and described the basic design and means to make fiber optics a practical and significant communications medium. Thereafter, he contributed significantly to the development and subsequent commercialization of optical fiber components and systems. In the early 1980s, as the first executive scientist and subsequently as corporate director of research at ITT, Kao addressed the high-frequency limits of signal processing, known as "terabit technology," to help R&D managers improve the effectiveness of materials and device research.