| The
Applied Physics option* is designed to connect what are conventionally considered
"engineering" and "pure physics" disciplines. Research in Applied Physics
is an effort to answer questions related to problems of technological concern.
Since the interests of both engineering and pure physics cover fields that
overlap, a definite dividing line cannot be drawn between them. Realizing
this, the Applied Physics option draws its faculty from the divisions of
Physics, Mathematics
and Astronomy; Engineering
and Applied Science; Chemistry
and Chemical Engineering; and Geological
and Planetary Sciences. This interdivisional aspect of our program
allows a flexibility and range in curriculum that results in an extraordinary
mixture of courses and research in different divisions. In fact, one of
the unique aspects of Caltech is that research and collegiality extend across
departmental and divisional borders; and the subsequent collaborations are
nothing short of spectacular.
Graduates
of Caltech's Applied Physics option can now be found among the faculties
of leading universities and among the technical management and engineering
staffs of the foremost technology companies, ranging from established
industry leaders to early stage start-up companies, some of which have
been founded by Caltech faculty members.
|
While our
efforts are motivated primarily by the research interests of individual
faculty, interdisciplinary center programs also provide a strong research
and educational infrastructure. The NSF Center
for the Science and Engineering of Materials (CSEM)
addresses both research and educational aspects of polymeric, structural,
photonic, and ferroelectric materials that will be necessary to solve
critical societal needs of the 21st century.
The Center pioneers a number of exotic and futuristic materials and applications
such as microphotonic materials and devices, integrated ferroelectrics,
macromolecular engineering, as well as research at the interfaces
between these fields. The CSEM
effort in Mesophotonic Materials is motivated by advances in the synthesis
and theoretical understanding of materials designed to manipulate light
on scales at and below the wavelength of light. These efforts will produce
near-term advances in microphotonics and move into the revolutionary
domain of devices on scales of tens of nanometers.
Caltech's
NSF Center for Neuromorphic
Systems Engineering (CNSE)
seeks to give senses and sensory behavior to machines by understanding
the biological basis for vision, olfaction, hearing, touch, learning,
decision making, and pattern recognition, and enabling fabrication of
integrated photonic and electronic devices which allow artificial systems
to perform these functions.
The NSF Institute
for Quantum Information (IQI)
further supports our work with its aim of understanding how fundamental
physical laws can be harnessed to dramatically improve the acquisition,
transmission, and processing of information.
We also undertake
projects in collaboration with the Lee
Center for Advanced Networking, whose goal is the creation of
a world wide distributed computing system that connects people and appliances
through wireless and high-bandwidth wired channels and a backbone of computers
that serve as databases and object servers.
|
