Dr. Anthony J. DeMaria, Professor-in-Residence in the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department, has been invited by the Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and the founding partners of LaserFest to participate in a program and black tie reception in celebration of the now-indispensable laser. The event will take place February 12, 2010 in Washington, DC at the Kenneth E. Behring Center.

LaserFest commemorates the 50-year anniversary of the first demonstration of laser technology, which underpins countless consumer, defense and medical products and processes, from DVDs and barcode reader technology to precision surgery and missile target tracking. Dr. DeMaria, who earned his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees at UConn (’56 and ’65), has been invited to be a founding member of LaserFest.

A pioneer in the development of picoseconds mode-locked lasers who has made seminal contributions to high power lasers, Dr. DeMaria was elected to both the National Academy of Engineering (1976) and the National Academy of Sciences (1997). He continues his duties as Chief Scientist with Coherent-DEOS, LLC, Bloomfield, CT, which manufactures lasers for remote sensing and infrared counter-measures and employs approximately 170 staff members. He is a member of the Connecticut Academy of Science & Engineering, the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the recipient of many named awards.