Donald B. Keck (b. 1941), Robert D. Maurer (b. 1927) and Peter C. Schultz (b. 1942)

Fibre optics, telecommunication

Keck, Maurer and Schultz’s invention of low-loss optical fibre paved the way for the commercialization of optical fibre. This created a revolution in telecommunications and laid the cornerstone for the information superhighway. Innovations such as the Internet, videoconferencing, and high-quality, low-cost, long-distance telephone service are a result of the research team’s efforts. In addition, the reduction in energy consumption of the telephone system gained through conversion to optical fibre resulted in an extremely significant positive impact on the environment.

At a time when scientists around the globe were searching for a technology that could overcome the limitations of copper and create the next generation of communication systems Keck, Maurer and Schultz’s research, drawing on the earlier work of Charles Kao to help provide an answer to these problems. While many experts thought this system would be built with a technology known as millimetre waveguides, the Corning scientists believed that optical fibre offered great potential if they could find a way to prevent light from fading and being lost as it travelled the length of the fibre. After working on the project for more than three years at Corning’s Sullivan Park research and development facility, the team designed and produced the first commercially feasible optical fibre in 1970.

Donald Keck received his Ph.D. in 1967 from Michigan State University. He joined Corning Incorporated in 1968 as a senior research scientist and served successively as Director of Applied Physics, Division Vice-president for Optics and Photonics, and as Division Vice-president and Technology Director for the Optical Physics Technology Group. He retired in 2002.

Robert Maurer, a former research fellow of Corning Incorporated, joined the company after receiving his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Maurer, who led the team of Corning scientists, served as a research physicist, senior research associate and manager of Corning’s Fundamental Physics Department. He retired from Corning in 1989.

Peter Schultz, President of Heraeus Amersil, began his career at Corning in 1967 after receiving his Ph.D. from Rutgers University and continued as a senior research scientist until 1984. In 1984, Schultz held the position of vice president of Technology at SpecTran Corporation and in 1986, was named president of technology at Galileo ElectroOptics Inc.

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