Grant: Canada Research Chairs

When industry, education and government services were forced to relocate significant portions of their work force to remote operation in 2019/2020, the global information network was ready to meet demand. Few other points in history have so well illustrated how universal connectivity is key to the growth of prosperity and quality of life. Research into optical and mobile communications systems ensures we continue to improve the reliability, sustainability, and capacity of these networks to meet the next unforeseen challenge. They are also the trampoline for ever greater technical capabilities and more diverse applications; they are the conduits to societal advances. The Canada Research Chair in Communications Systems Enabling the Cloud (CRC-CSEC) focuses on how we move data to and within data processing centers. Short reach systems (at the network edge where mobiles connect, and at the data center where processing occurs) must be engineered very differently from long reach systems aggregating signals for bulk transfers. We take insights into fundamental devices (fiber-based and integrated photonic chips) and marry them with an appreciation for the particular and idiosyncratic requirements of specific links. It is not the specificity of the application, but rather the insertion of specificity at the time of chip/fiber design that will propel us to greater advances in the state of the art. We return to the initial design process to replace the targeting of generic specifications (bandwidth, extinction ratio, etc.), with an optimization of the behavior of the device in the target system. The Canada Research Chair will advance research in the field, and equally importantly, create a cohort of highly trained personnel transferring these concepts and paradigms to industry. Recognized with numerous awards for her teaching and graduate supervision, the chair creates a dynamic, multi-cultural and diverse research team of the highest quality. As heavy investors in product research and development, the telecommunications industry has an insatiable demand for researchers versed in the latest research and adept with world-class laboratory facilities. Trainees from the chair will joint these companies and convert research results into quality of life improvements for Canadians.