From Innovation to the Marketplace: The Role of a Physicist

When a technical innovation transitions from first an idea, to funded laboratory demonstration, and then finally to a manufactured product, the impact of this innovation is significantly multiplied. For a physicist working in the private sector, this can be incredibly rewarding. The physicists efforts matter and their influence on scientific discovery, technical progress, and commercial success is unambiguous. In this talk I will discuss what this transition looks like, with several real-world examples. From: i) non-mechanical beamsteerers for autonomous vehicles, to ii) an “optics-table” in your palm that enables deployed quantum sensors, computers, and clocks, to iii) optical frequency combs for a wide array of applications, I’ve seen this process unfold many times. This “force-multiplier” effect of having one innovation end up in dozens or hundreds of labs, and thousands of deployed products, is important and fulfilling work. In this talk I will discuss why a physics education can be especially useful in guiding technology through this process, especially in a small-business environment. A physics education is almost always quite multidisciplinary: electronics, mechanics, vacuum systems, coding, RF, numerical analysis, etc. Shepherding innovations from idea to the market is also unequivocally multidisciplinary. From the original innovations and the back-of-the-envelope analyses, to proposal writing, to designing and executing the proof-of-concept demonstrations, to working with manufacturing to develop a production flow, this is something that physicists are good at. In this talk I will support this with specific examples from my company history. I will also offer guidance for students on what to pay special attention to in classes and to include in your resume.