2006 Plenary Speaker

Dr. Robert F. Leheny, Deputy Director, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
Defense Applications for Emerging Opto-Electronic Technologies

Opto-electronic technologies continue to find widespread applications in defense systems.  This talk will review recent research results from DARPA supported programs, and discuss the trend of these developments and how they may impact future systems. Dr. Robert F. Leheny joined the Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in 1993 as a Program Manager for optoelectronic materials and device technologies. In 1999 he was appointed Director of DARPA's Microsystems Technology Office and in June, 2003 he assumed his current position as DARPA's Deputy Director.

From 1987-1993 he was Executive Director of the Network Technology Research Division in the Applied Research Laboratory of Bell Communications Research (Bellcore), located in Red Bank, NJ. From 1984-1987 he was Director of Bellcore's Electronic Device Research Group.From 1967-1984 he was a Member of Technical Staff in the Electronics Research Department at Bell Laboratories, Holmdel, NJ. In 1983 Bell Labs named him a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff. From 1962-1967 Leheny was a graduate student and Associate Professor (1966-67) with Columbia University 's Electrical Engineering Department. He received the Doctor of Engineering Science Degree in 1966 and a BSEE from the University of Connecticut in1960. From 1960-62 Leheny was a Radar Systems Engineer with the Sperry Gyroscope Co., Great Neck, NY.

Leheny was elected a Fellow of the IEEE in 1991 for his contributions to advancing the technology of integrated optoelectronics, in 1992 he was named a Distinguished Graduate of the University of Connecticut School of Engineering, and in 2003 he received the Department of Defense's Distinguished Civilian Service Award.

Leheny has published widely, co-authored four book chapters and co-edited a text on Integrated Optoelectronics. He served as an Assistant Editor to the IEEE Laser and Electro-Optics Society's (LEOS) Photonics Technology Journal and as an Assistant Editor to the Optical Society of America's Optical Letters Journal. He also served as an elected member of the Board of Governors of LEOS from 1993 to 1996. In addition to the IEEE he is a member of the Optical Society of America, the American Physical Society (APS), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Sigma Xi, and the New York Academy of Science.