Stimulus funds help start program to create clean-tech leaders

Associate Professor Diana Huffaker.

As the country presses forward in developing green energy and Los Angeles strives to become a hub of clean technology, UCLA Associate Professor Diana Huffaker noticed there was one thing still missing: a program to train the future leaders of environmental industry in L.A.

So she created it -- and, working with about 20 other professors, won support for it: $3 million in stimulus funding via a highly competitive grant from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Integrative Graduate Education Research Traineeship (IGERT) award.

The Clean Energy for Green Industry Fellowship, designed to develop leaders in environmental energy, could start as soon as the upcoming winter quarter. It will grant Ph.D. students a $33,000 stipend for pursuing coursework in the science, business and policies of clean technology.

"Over the course of the five-year program, we'll graduate 33 Ph.D.s with expertise in energy storage, energy harvesting and energy conservation," Huffaker said.

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GigOptix`s 100G Mach Zehnder Modulator Enables 110GHz Time Stretched Analog to Digital Conversions

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(Business Wire)-- GigOptix Inc. (OTCBB:GGOX), a leading provider of electronic engines for the optically connected digital world today announced successful results from collaborative work with Prof. Bahram Jalali`s engineering group at UCLA on using GigOptix`s LX8900 in a novel 110GHz time stretched analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) application.

Ultra-wide-band ADC is one of the most critical problems faced in communication, instrumentation and radar systems. Digital Signal Processing (DSP) has revolutionized modern communication and radar systems by offering unprecedented performance and adaptivity. For broad-band systems, however, the application of DSP is hindered by difficulty in capturing the wide-band signal. The standard approach to deal with this problem is to employ parallelism through the use of the time-interleaved ADC architecture. Here, the signal is captured by a parallel array of slow digitizers. This architecture suffers from mismatches between digitizers that limit the dynamic range and therefore limits the resolution of such sample-interleaved ADC systems. An entirely new ADC architecture called time-stretched ADC overcomes these issues using high speed broadband Mach-Zehnder modulators. Here, the analog signal is slowed down prior to sampling and quantization by an electronic digitizer in the optical domain using the certain non-linearities in the optical fiber. This technique has applications in ultra high frequency communication, instrumentation and radar systems.

"GigOptix`s unique EO polymer modulator technology is enabling a new branch of application in ultra high speed RF photonics," commented UCLA Researcher Ali Motafakker. "Ultra-wide-band ADC is a very challenging problem and our team is very excited about the performance of the LX8900 device and its potential to solve issues in this field. We are looking forward to continuing to drive this technology forward."

"We are very happy to see these excellent results coming back so quickly from our collaboration with UCLA," stated Andrea Betti-Berutto, Chief Technology Officer of GigOptix. "This is a significant moment for GigOptix in that it not only verifies our vision of combining our broadband EO polymer modulator technology with our broadband RF expertise and but also confirms our strategy of collaborating with leading research groups to define new applications for our technologies." LX8900 samples are available immediately. Please contact sales@gigoptix.com for datasheets, samples and pricing.

About GigOptix Inc. GigOptix is a leading fabless manufacturer of electronic engines for the optically connected digital world. The Company offers a broad portfolio of high speed electronic devices including polymer electro-optic modulators, modulator drivers, laser drivers and TIAs for telecom, datacom, Infiniband and consumer optical systems, covering serial and parallel communication technologies from 1G to 100G. For more information,

please visit www.GigOptix.com. Forward-Looking Statements Statements made in this release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements, including statements pertaining to defining new applications, solving industry problems and any statement that refers to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances and those which can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects," "plans," "may," "should," or "anticipates" and other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, which might cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. These risks and uncertainties include those described in GigOptix's periodic reports filed with the SEC, and in news releases and other communications. GigOptix disclaims any intention or duty to update any forward-looking statements made in this release.

GigOptix Inc. Parker Martineau, 650-424-1937 ext. 102 (Media) Corporate Communications Manager pr@gigoptix.com or Alliance Advisors, LLC Alan Sheinwald, 914-669-0222 (Investors) President asheinwald@allianceadvisors.net Copyright Business Wire 2009

Science Night: A Roaring Success

From Meredith Kupinski.  A Science Night for elementary students was organized by OSC Professor Scott Tyo at Robins Elementary School last Friday evening.  Eleven exhibitors from UA science departments, local industry, and local science clubs participated to share fun demonstrations of science principles with more than 150 students and their families. OSC would like to thank graduate student Samantha White for making the index of refraction an unforgettable lesson by showing a Pyrex beaker disappear in Wesson cooking oil.  OSC undergraduate Devinna Fleming proved lasers are used for more than just pointers by broadcasting her iPod music through a fiber optic. Thanks for sharing your interest in science with young students.  Also thanks to Zachary Denny, Jennifer Harwell, and Kali Wilson for assistance with the preparations.

 

Summer Research Program Trains Future Graduate Students

Top students from throughout the United States and Mexico come to the UA to participate in 10 weeks of intensive research training with some of the nation's top researchers in their fields.

Eighty-six of the United States' and Mexico's top undergraduates, most from underrepresented populations, are participating in 10 weeks of intensive research at The University of Arizona.

The UA's Graduate College Summer Research Opportunity Program for undergraduate students, or SROP, is a collaboration among UA faculty and colleges to prepare the next generation of scientists for graduate school.

The program provides research opportunities and other benefits, including funding for U.S. students accepted into the program.

The program is funded through a variety of UA and federal programs including the Minority Access to Research Careers program, the U.S. Department of Education's Ronald E. McNair Achievement program, the National Institutes of Health Minority Health Disparities Program and several optical sciences grants.

Students from the top Mexican universities are part of the Mexico Science and Engineering Research Program, which provides funding for its students.

Bob, edgar RamThe UA recruits scholars from universities throughout the U.S. and Mexico based on their high academic achievement, research experience and a desire to pursue graduate education in the fields of science, education, health, engineering, humanities and the social sciences.

"It is extremely rewarding to see the caliber of these students, their love for learning and the hard work they are willing to put into their research and other learning opportunities we provide through the program," said Maria Teresa Velez, associate dean of the UA Graduate College. "Many come from poor backgrounds and the academic distance they have traveled to be where they are foretell the great accomplishments they are likely to make."

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CIAN Newsletter August 2009

Download CIAN August 2009 Newsletter

This material is based upon work supported by the Engineering Research Center Program of the National Science Foundation under NSF Cooperative Support Agreement Award No. EEC-0812072. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Science Foundation. © 2008 The Arizona Board of Regents. | webmaster@cian-erc.org