2009 October, 6th

Liliana Dumitru-Steffens

The 2009 Nobel Prize in physics went to three scientists who played a major role in linking the world through fiber-optic networks – paving the road for the Internet age; and who created the technology behind digital photography.

The prize was shared between Charles Kao for research that led to a breakthrough in fibre-optics and Willard Boyle and George Smith for the first imaging technology using a digital sensor. Kao will be taking half of the 10 million kronor, while Boyle and Smith will be getting a fourth each. The scientists will also receive a diploma and will be invited to attend the prize ceremonies in Stockholm on December 10, 2009.

Charles Kao is a Shanghai-born British-American (born 4 November 1933) is regarded as the “Father of Fiber Optic Communications.” In 1966, together with George Hockham, Kao worked on technology that formed the basis for the production of the first “ultra-pure” fibre. He demonstrated that the high-loss of existing fiber-optics arose from the impurities in the glass rather than from a problem with the technology.

Willard Sterling Boyle (born August 19, 1924) is a Canadian-American physicist and co-inventor of the Charge-coupled device – the invention that brought him a Nobel prize this year. He shared the prize with George Elwood Smith(born May 10, 1930), an American scientist. In addition to the Nobel prize, the two scientists also received the Franklin Institute’s Stuart Ballantine Medal in 1973, the 1974 IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award and the 2006 Charles Stark Draper Prize, for the same invention.

“This year’s Nobel prize in physics is awarded for two scientific achievements that have helped to shape the foundations of today’s networked societies,” the award-winning committee said in a statement. “They have created many practical innovations for everyday life and provided new tools for scientific exploration.”

Sources:

• Communication pioneers win 2009 physics Nobel
• Announcement of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics

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About the Author

Liliana Dumitru-Steffens is public relations consultant for Pamil Visions PR. She writes for Everything PR since January 2009. Previously she worked for My-tronic GmbH and Unilever Romania. Email Liliana at lsteffens [at] pamil-visions [dot] net.

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