Bio: Paul K.L. Yu joined the UCSD faculty in 1983 and currently serves as Chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. He is one of five professors responsible for UCSD's Integrated Technologies Laboratory, which makes experimental electronic devices. Since January 2000, Yu has been an academic participant in Calit2's Materials and Devices group. Participates in the Photonics Society of Chinese-Americans. He is a Senior Member of IEEE and a member of the Optical Society of America. Yu is currently the Treasurer of the IEEE Electron Devices Society. He has published more than 100 papers in the area of photonics. He received his Ph.D. from Caltech in 1983.  

Research: For twenty years, Professor Yu has been working on devices that enhance the performance of telecommunications networks. His current focus on transmitting microwave signals through optical fiber has the potential to revolutionize communications by paving the way for broadband speeds many times faster than today's advanced 10 Gigabit per second (Gbps) systems. While working on devices that may not reach the commercial market for five years or longer, Yu can speak about the challenges that academic and industry researchers face as they push fiber transmission speeds to 40Gbps and higher, while improving efficiency as well. Yu is also an expert on the increasing uses of photonic approaches to what had been exclusively electronic applications, and can explain advances in state-of-the-art photonic devices such as laser diodes, high power lasers, external modulators, optical amplifiers, and photodetectors. At UCSD, Yu is also part of the Materials Science and Engineering and Bioengineering programs. He works on new materials to be used in the construction of advanced optoelectronic devices. In Bioengineering, his interests are in the area of bioelectronics, notably cell sensing and monitoring in biological systems, and the biomedical applications of microwaves and photonics.