Anbo Wang named Clayton Ayre Professor
Anbo Wang, professor of electrical engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, was named the Clayton Ayre Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors during the board’s quarterly meeting June 12.
The Ayre professorship was established to recognize research excellence.
Wang came to Virginia Tech as a visiting scholar in 1990, became an assistant professor in 1994, and was promoted to associate professor in 1997 and professor in 1999.
He is a pioneering researcher in the field of optical fiber sensors for application in harsh environments such as oil wells, power transformers, and jet engines. In 1997 he founded the Photonics Laboratory, which became the Center for Photonics Technology in 2000. His research ranges from basic science to engineering innovations in the areas of photonics, nanophotonics, and biophotonics.
Wang’s optical fiber sensor work has set numerous records for sensor size, speed, functionality, integration, and harsh environment capability. He developed a technology for epoxy-free and self-calibrating sensors that won an R&D 100 Award from R&D Magazine in 2005.
Wang has been the principle investigator or co-principle investigator on more than 60 projects totaling $12 million in research funding. He received a National Science Foundation Sensor Initiative Award in 2004 and a Department of Energy Energy Efficiency Science Initiative Award in 2001. He has authored or co-authored about 60 patents or patent disclosures, with more than one third licensed to industry for commercialization.
He has authored or co-authored 70 peer-reviewed journal publications, 136 conference publications, five book chapters, and has edited or co-edited eight conference proceedings. Wang is an active member of the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE).
He received his bachelor’s degree from Anshan College of Engineering (China) and a master’s degree and Ph.D. from Dalian University of Technology (China).
The College of Engineering at Virginia Tech is internationally recognized for its excellence in 14 engineering disciplines and computer science. The college's 5,500 undergraduates benefit from an innovative curriculum that provides a "hands-on, minds-on" approach to engineering education, complementing classroom instruction with two unique design-and-build facilities and a strong Cooperative Education Program. With more than 50 research centers and numerous laboratories, the college offers its 1,800 graduate students opportunities in advanced fields of study such as biomedical engineering, state-of-the-art microelectronics, and nanotechnology.
Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech has grown to become among the largest universities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today, Virginia Tech’s eight colleges are dedicated to putting knowledge to work through teaching, research, and outreach activities and to fulfilling its vision to be among the top research universities in the nation. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 180 academic degree programs.
