2009 NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS WINNER: Professor 高錕 Charles K. Kao

終於等待到今天. 香港以賺錢為主, 好少對科學有什麼重大貢獻, 又好少人知到 ,"光學"的父親  (the father of Fibre Optics) 就是香港的高錕教授. 他終於得到達諾貝爾物理學獎 (Nobel prize in Physics for the study of transmission of light in fibre optics, (雖然要同人 share, 只獲得 500,000 US, 不過錢不是主要). 沒有光學 optical fibre , 就不會有互聯網, internet.

Nobel prize web site , click here

高錕教授是 1933年11月 中國上海出世. 小時就讀香港聖若瑟書院. 1957 年倫敦皇家學院 (Imperial College) 電機工程 (Electrical/Electronics Engineering) 畢業; 1965 年 Imperial College 電機工程博士學位畢業. 修讀博士時, 曾在 Standard Telephones and Cable Ltd 和 Standard Telecommunication Laboratories Research centre (研究中心, 現在是 part of Nortel Networks , Canada) 工作 .

In 1966 , he demonstrated that the high loss in light transmission in optical fibre was caused by the impurities in glass and the problem was not the technology itself. It was concluded that light transmission loss in optical fibre was due to light absorption, light scattering and bending.

The impurities were removed using a method (vapour phase deposition, preforming, etc) derived by Robert Maurer. The same basic technique is still being used today.

高錕教授經歷 ( in brief) :

1970-1974年擔任香港中文大學電子學系教授及講座教授 .

1974年:  曾在美國 ITT 擔任首席科學家 , Chief Scientist  ( 可以話沖破傳統 ,不是白人擔任), then Director in Research.

1987-1996: 香港中文大學校長.
1990: 美國國家工程院院士
1992 : 台灣中央研究院院士
1996 : 至現在 香港高科橋 (Transtech) 有限公司主席兼行政總裁.

Awards:
1976: The Morey Award, American Ceramic Society, USA.
1977: The Stewart Ballantine Medal, Franklin Institute, USA.
1978: The Rank Prize, Rank Trust Fund, UK.
1978: The IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award.
1979: The L. M. Ericsson International Prize, Sweden.
1980: The Gold Medal, AFCEA, USA.
1985: The IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal.
1985: The Marconi International Scientist Award, Marconi Foundation, USA.
1985: The Columbus Medal of the City of Genoa, Italy.
1987: The C & C Prize, Foundation for Communication and Computer Promotion, Japan.
1989: The Faraday Medal, Institute of Electrical Engineers, UK.
1989: The James C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials, American Physical Society (APS)[18].
1992: The Gold Medal of the Society, SPIE [19].
1993: The Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE).
1995: The Gold Medal for Engineering Excellence, The World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), UK.
1996: The Prince Philip Medal of the Royal Academy of Engineering; in recognition of "his pioneering work which led to the invention of optical fibre and for his leadership in its engineering and commercial realisation; and for his distinguished contribution to higher education in Hong Kong".
1996: The 12th Japan Prize; "for pioneering research on wide-band, low-loss optical fiber communications".
The 3463 Kaokuen, discovered in 1981, named after Kao in 1996.
1999: The Charles Stark Draper Prize (co-recipient with Robert D. Maurer and John B. MacChesney).
2006: The HKIE Gold Medal Award (HKIE: The Hong Kong Institute of Engineers).
2009: Kao was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics (1/2 of the prize); "for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication".