As the principal investigator, Dr. Chang has extensive experiences in both fiber- and integrated-optics technology for communications and inertial navigation. Prior to joining the faculty of the Department of Electrical Engineering, California State University, Long Beach, he had been engaged in research, development, and production transfer of fiber-optic gyroscopes for more than 14 years. He received the Sperry Advanced Technical Achievement Award in 1986 for his contribution to the development of fiber optic gyroscopes first used in commercial transport airplanes. In 1990, he received the Charles B. Thornton Advanced Technology Award from the Litton Industries conglomerate, also related to his contribution to the military-grade fiber optic gyroscope. He currently holds more than 35 US patents in fiber integrated-optics and related technologies.
In addition to his technical and engineering accomplishments, he was appointed as a Department Manager by Litton Guidance & Control Systems to be responsible for the development of a program for Fiber-Optic based Navigation Systems. The product is widely used in several military programs, such as the US Air Force Advanced Medium Range Air-To- Air Missile (AMRAAM). In 1990, he was promoted to a Technical Director responsible for product transfer & support. He successfully transferred the products to a factory with several automated process machines, also developed by the department he managed. The factory became the first to produce low cost, military, air-born grade Fiber-Optic based navigation systems. In 1996, Dr. Chang started to pursue a career in the commercial optic fiber communication market. Over the last 7 years, he has successfully brought fiber optic switches, transceivers and high dense wavelength division multiplexers/demultiplexers to the metropolitan network market, and fiber optic DVI extenders and camera link products to the display and security markets.
