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Honorary doctorate for father of fibre optics

An University of Greenwich product story

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team Aug 1, 2003

Prof Charles Kao has been awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science (HonDSc) by the University of Greenwich.

Prof Charles Kao was recently awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science (HonDSc) by the University of Greenwich.

He is Chairman and CEO of ITX Services, specialising in technology transfer and outlook projects, and is internationally recognised as "the father of fibre optics".

A former student of Woolwich Polytechnic, Prof Kao has achieved world recognition as one of the architects of fibre-optic technology.

Prof Kao began experimenting in London in 1963, culminating in the proof that strands of glass fibres can transmit near limitless amounts of digitised data on pulses of laser light.

His pioneering research enabled the use of fibre optics in telecommunications and led to the development of the Internet, video conferencing and electronic commerce.

Prof Kao's theoretical and practical research in the 1960s produced 29 patented discoveries and contributed significantly to the development and subsequent commercialisation of optical-fibre communication components and systems that made the telecommunications revolution possible.

He established and chaired the Electronics Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong from 1970 to 1974, and served as Vice- Chancellor from 1987 to 1996.

He has published and presented over 200 papers, and edited and authored several texts on optical fibres.

Prof Kao has received awards from institutions around the world and was awarded a CBE in 1993 in recognition of his work.

In 1999 Asiaweek magazine nominated Professor Kao as one of the top five Asians of the 20th century - this ranked him alongside other figures such as Gandhi and Deng Xiao Ping.

Prof Kao said: "It was my good fortune to be in the right place.

Fibre optics has now revolutionised the telephone industry.

I am very grateful to be honoured by the University of Greenwich for my contribution to technology".

He was joined by 140 graduating students in the Chapel of St Peter and St Paul at the Old Royal Naval College.

The award was presented by Prof Rick Trainor, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Greenwich.