This informal talk will discuss the impact of rapidly progressing optical technology on the future of computing. I will present some fundamental of optical technology. After a brief historical review of the rapid progress in optics technology driven by telecom and datacom applications, I will review both R&D as well as pre-commercial developments that are bound to impact the use of optics in computers in the near future. Technology issues ranging from cost reduction to monolithic optical integration, and applications as diverse as data center cabling and on-chip optical interconnects will be discussed.

Bio: Dr. Marc Verdiell is a former Intel Fellow. He came to Intel via acquisition of his company LightLogic, a startup he had founded in 1998 and became one of the early leading provider of 10 Gb Ethernet optical transceivers. Dr. Verdiell had previously conducted research at the forefront of integrated optoelectronics at AT&T Bell Labs. He is currently the CEO of Aprius Inc., a startup he recently co-founded with two other former Intel employees. Aprius is tight lipped about what it exactly does, but it has something to do with optics and computers. This informal talk will discuss the impact of rapidly progressing optical technology on the future of computing.