Shuji Nakamura, inventor of the blue LED and laser diode, has resigned his position as head of R&D at Nichia Chemical Industries (Anan, Japan) to accept an appointment to the faculty of the College of Engineering at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB). He will be joining one of the outstanding gallium nitride (GaN) research programs in the world, including six professors and 30 graduate students.
Nakamura said his decision was twofold—before he chose a particular university, he had to decide to leave industry for academia. In a prepared statement he said, "I'm very grateful to Nichia for the superb opportunities it has provided me. But I felt that I had come to a crossroads in my life. I decided that an academic context would now be better." (See Laser Focus World, Sept. 1999, p. 57, for more on his background).
Conard Holton | Editor at Large
Conard Holton has 25 years of science and technology editing and writing experience. He was formerly a staff member and consultant for government agencies such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and engineering companies such as Bechtel. He joined Laser Focus World in 1997 as senior editor, becoming editor in chief of WDM Solutions, which he founded in 1999. In 2003 he joined Vision Systems Design as editor in chief, while continuing as contributing editor at Laser Focus World. Conard became editor in chief of Laser Focus World in August 2011, a role in which he served through August 2018. He then served as Editor at Large for Laser Focus World and Co-Chair of the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar from August 2018 through January 2022. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, with additional studies at the Colorado School of Mines and Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.