Location: ES&T L1255 Contact: Sharon Lawrence404-894-4040 Description: Dr. Yasuhiro Koike is Professor in the Faculty of Science and Technology of Keio University (located in the Minato ward of Tokyo) and Director of the Keio Photonics Research Institute.  He received his Ph.D. in Engineering from the Graduate School of Engineering, Keio University, Yokohama, Japan. He served as a visiting research staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories from 1989 to 1990. Dr. Koike has been Professor at Keio University since 1997. He specializes in photonics polymers, in particular, high-bandwidth graded-index polymer optical fibers (GI POF), highly scattered optical transmission (HSOT) polymers, and zero birefringence polymers. Dr. Koike has been pursuing an R&D project on Face-to-Face Communications systems using photonics polymer technologies in the framework of the "Funding Program for World-Leading Innovative R&D on Science and Technology (FIRST program)" of the Cabinet Office of Japan since 2010. He received the International Engineering and Technology Award of the Society of Plastics Engineers in 1994, the Fujiwara Award in 2001, and the Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon from the Government of Japan in 2006. In 2007, he received an Honorary Doctorate from Eindhoven University of Technology.Novel Photonics Polymers for Face-to-Face CommunicationRecent progress and status of photonic polymers for overwhelmingly realistic face-to-face communication are described. The world’s fastest graded-index plastic optical fiber covering 40gbps which is directly connected to large size display realizes high realistic sensation without any time lag. The 3D/4K display has been successfully made by a highly scattered optical transmission polymer, which increases the brightness and contrast, and by an invention of zero-birefringence polymer that dramatically improves the control of polarization phase and dissolves the mura problem at low fabrication cost. The key technology is the photonic polymer which will totally change the communication system of today.     Related Links Yasuhiro Koike