The Innovator’s Journey (2024) | Office of Research

In this series of lightning talks, BU faculty and alumni will share their diverse paths from invention to market to impact. Each innovator will offer insights on the challenges and opportunities that defined their journeys, including information about the institutional supports, advocates, mentors, and resources that helped them along the way. The talks will be followed by a moderated Q&A led by Michael Pratt, managing director of BU Technology Development.

The event also includes the presentation of the BU Innovator of the Year Award to Dr. Thomas Bifano, professor of mechanical engineering and director of the BU Photonics Center. View event slides.

Featuring: Paul Bierden | Ed Damiano | David Freedman | Anand Krishnamurthy

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About the Innovator of the Year

Professor Thomas Bifano, Mechanical Engineering (ENG), directs the Boston University Photonics Center, an academic center of excellence housing world-class research facilities and shared laboratories that sustains the work of over 170 researchers. He leads programs for education, scholarly research, and development of advanced photonic device prototypes for commercial and military uses. He also teaches students and conducts research focusing on modeling, design, production, and use of micro-electro-mechanical systems in optical applications.

Dr. Bifano is co-founder, chief technical officer, and board member at Boston Micromachines Corporation, a world leader in development and production of deformable mirrors (DMs) to improve resolution in microscopes and telescopes. Its products include a wide range of commercially available instruments used by major corporations and customers, ranging from modulated retroflectors for special-purpose Department of Defense applications to large-format DMs used in large telescope applications for finding earth-like exoplanets. BMC’s products have been successfully used in space-borne platforms and in ophthalmic imaging systems.

Dr. Bifano’s impact on innovation at BU extends far beyond his own laboratory. His mentorship has influenced the career trajectories of countless faculty and students, including multiple BU Innovators of the Year, and his leadership and efforts have led to numerous multi-year collaborations, including a five-year Cooperative Agreement for Technology Translation with the Army Research Laboratory that supported more than $30 million in Department of Defense-supplied funds used directly for translation of BU photonics technology.

View past Innovators of the Year