WPI receives gift from IPG Photonics to enhance teaching and research

February 21, 2008, Worcester, MA--Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has received funds and equipment from fiber laser and amplifier manufacturer IPG Photonics Corporation (Oxford, MA), to enhance the teaching and research capabilities of the IPG Photonics Laboratory, established at WPI in 2001, in part, with support from the company.

The funds will enable WPI to provide a robust education in and continue to advance the frontiers of photonics, a field that is central to the future of industries as diverse as electronics, semiconductors, manufacturing, solar energy, computing, and medical devices.

"The gifts from IPG Photonics have helped WPI assemble a state-of-the-art facility that has significantly augmented our ability to offer students outstanding preparation for careers in photonics--a field that is playing an ever more important role in all aspects of information technology, telecommunications, medicine, environmental science, and many other disciplines," said Richard Quimby, associate professor of physics at WPI and director of the IPG Photonics Laboratory. "With this new equipment, we will also be able to expand research programs that will aid in the development of new materials that may open the door to exciting new applications for photonics. We're grateful to IPG for making this investment in WPI."

The gift includes four pieces of state-of-the art equipment manufactured by IPG Photonics; (1) a tunable erbium fiber laser, (2) an erbium-doped fiber amplifier, (3) a broadband superluminescent light source, and (4) a higher-power ytterbium laser. Founded in 1865 in Worcester, MA, WPI was one of the nation's first engineering and technology universities.

For more information, visit www.wpi.edu.