Yanne Kouomou Chembo is an Electrical Engineer and Associate Professor at the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...

. His research considers ultra-pure microwaves and

Kerr frequency comb Kerr frequency combs (also known as microresonator frequency combs) are optical frequency combs which are generated from a continuous wave pump laser by the Kerr nonlinearity. This coherent conversion of the pump laser to a frequency comb takes pl ...

s. He is a Fellow of

The Optical Society Optica (formerly known as The Optical Society (OSA) and before that as the Optical Society of America) is a professional society of individuals and companies with an interest in optics and photonics. It publishes journals and organizes conference ...

and

SPIE SPIE (formerly the Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers, later the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers) is an international not-for-profit professional society for optics and photonics technology, founded in 1955. It ...

Early life and education

Chembo was born in

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

. He attended the

University of Yaoundé I The University of Yaoundé I ( French: ''Université de Yaoundé I'') is a public university in Cameroon, located in the capital Yaoundé. It was formed in 1993 following a university reform that split the country's oldest university, the Universi ...

where he earned two bachelor's degrees, one in physics and one in

telecommunications engineering Telecommunications Engineering is a subfield of electrical engineering which seeks to design and devise systems of communication at a distance. The work ranges from basic circuit design to strategic mass developments. A telecommunication enginee ...

. Chembo completed two simultaneous doctoral degrees, one at the

and one at the

University of the Balearic Islands The University of the Balearic Islands ( ca, Universitat de les Illes Balears, UIB; es, Universidad de las Islas Baleares ) is a Balearic Spanish university, founded in 1978 and located in Palma on the island of Majorca. The university is funde ...

. After earning his doctoral degree, Chembo moved to the

French National Centre for Scientific Research The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 ...

(CNRS) FEMTO-ST Institute as a postdoctoral researcher. He joined the

Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States. Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...

in 2009.

Research and career

Chembo returned to the FEMTO-ST Institute in 2010, where he led a group working on microwave photonics. Here Chembo looked to develop ultra-pure microwaves using optical resonators. He was supported by the

European Research Council The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific ...

. He created a photonic module that was capable of generating high-purity microwave signals for aerospace and

optical communication Optical communication, also known as optical telecommunication, is communication at a distance using light to carry information. It can be performed visually or by using electronic devices. The earliest basic forms of optical communication date b ...

s. To allow for coherent optical fibre telecommunications, Chembo made use of

s. In 2014 Chembo was appointed to the

International Commission for Optics The International Commission for Optics (ICO) was created in 1947 with the objective to contribute, on an international basis, to the progress and dissemination of the science of optics and photonics and their applications. It emphasises the unit ...

committee on regional development. He stayed in France until 2016, when he moved to the joint

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

–

CNRS The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 ...

Joint International Laboratory. He moved to the

in 2019, where he was made Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering. He holds a joint position at the Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics (IREAP). He is an Associate Editor for

Optics Express ''Optics Express'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Optica. It was established in 1997. The journal reports on scientific and technology innovations in all aspects of optics and photonics. The Energy Express supplement ...

and has helped with the organisation of the

International Year of Light The International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies 2015 or International Year of Light 2015 (IYL 2015) was a United Nations observance that aimed to raise awareness of the achievements of light science and its applications, and its im ...

Awards and honors

* 2019 Fellow of

"for his achievements in ultra-stable microwave photonics oscillators." * 2020 Fellow of

"For pioneering contributions to the development of microwave photonic systems for aerospace and communication engineering, including monolithic optical frequency comb generators and optoelectronic oscillators."

Select publications

* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chembo, Yanne Kouomou Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Cameroonian scientists Cameroonian academics University of Maryland, College Park faculty African-American scientists Fellows of SPIE Fellows of Optica (society) 21st-century African-American people