Andrea Blanco-Redondo is a Spanish

photonics Photonics is a branch of optics that involves the application of generation, detection, and manipulation of light in the form of photons through emission, transmission, modulation, signal processing, switching, amplification, and sensing. E ...

engineer and physicist who works at the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...

as Florida Photonics Center of Excellence (FPCE) Endowed Professor in the College of Optics and Photonics (CREOL). She is known for her discovery of optical quartic

soliton In mathematics and physics, a soliton is a nonlinear, self-reinforcing, localized wave packet that is , in that it preserves its shape while propagating freely, at constant velocity, and recovers it even after collisions with other such local ...

s; her research interests also include topological photonics,

quantum optics Quantum optics is a branch of atomic, molecular, and optical physics and quantum chemistry that studies the behavior of photons (individual quanta of light). It includes the study of the particle-like properties of photons and their interaction ...

nanophotonics Nanophotonics or nano-optics is the study of the behavior of light on the nanometer scale, and of the interaction of nanometer-scale objects with light. It is a branch of optics, optical engineering, electrical engineering, and nanotechnology. I ...

photonic crystal A photonic crystal is an optical nanostructure in which the refractive index changes periodically. This affects the propagation of light in the same way that the structure of Crystal structure, natural crystals gives rise to X-ray crystallograp ...

s, and

slow light In optics, slow light is the propagation of an optical pulse or other modulation of an optical carrier at a very low group velocity. Slow light occurs when a propagating pulse is substantially slowed by the interaction with the medium in which the ...

Education and career

Blanco-Redondo earned a master's degree in electrical engineering at the

University of Valladolid The University of Valladolid is a public university located in the city of Valladolid, Valladolid province, autonomous region of Castile and Leon, Spain. Established in the 13th century, it is one of the oldest universities in the world. The ...

in 2006, including research in England at

Aston University Aston University (abbreviated as ''Aston'' for post-nominals) is a public university situated in the city centre of Birmingham, England. Aston began as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School in 1895, evolving into the UK's first College of a ...

. She completed a Ph.D. in electrical engineering at the

University of the Basque Country The University of the Basque Country (, ''EHU''; , ''UPV''; officially EHU) is a Spanish public university of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community. Heir of the University of Deusto, University of Bilbao, initial ...

in 2014. From 2007 to 2014 she worked in industry, for the Telecom Unit of Spanish firm Tecnalia. From 2013 to 2019 she was affiliated with the School of Physics at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, as a student Marie Curie Fellow, postdoctoral research fellow, Professor Harry Messel Research Fellow, lecturer, and senior lecturer. In 2019 she moved to

Nokia Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, commonly referred to as ''Bell Labs'', is an American industrial research and development company owned by Finnish technology company Nokia. With headquarters located in Murray Hill, New Jersey, the company operates several labo ...

as a researcher, soon becoming head of silicon photonics. She took her present position as Florida Photonics Center of Excellence (FPCE) Endowed Professor at the University of Central Florida in 2023.

Recognition

Blanco-Redondo was the 2014 runner-up for the Ada Byron Prize for Spanish women in technology. She was the 2016 recipient of the Geoff Opat Early Career Researcher Prize of the Australian and New Zealand Optical Society. Optica named her as an Optica Ambassador in 2018, and as a 2024

Optica Fellow The Optica Fellow is a membership designation of Optica (formerly known as The Optical Society (OSA)) that denotes distinguished scientific accomplishment. The bylaws of this society only allow 10% of its membership to be designated as an Opti ...

, "for her discovery of pure-quartic solitons and pioneering contributions to topological quantum photonics".

References

External links

Home page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blanco-Redondo, Andrea Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Spanish electrical engineers Spanish women engineers Women electrical engineers Spanish physicists Spanish women physicists Optical physicists Optical engineers University of Valladolid alumni University of the Basque Country alumni Academic staff of the University of Sydney University of Central Florida faculty Fellows of Optica (society) Spanish scientists