This is an interview with Julie Eng, the CTO of Coherent, following her reception of the Dr. Lisa Su Woman of Innovation Award and election to the US National Academy of Engineering. Eng recounts her career path from a math-proficient student to key roles at AT&T Bell Labs and Finisar, and now as CTO. She discusses her approach to the CTO role, emphasizing the importance of fostering internal innovation and ensuring R&D aligns with high-growth areas. Eng offers her perspective on key optical technology trends, including the future of VCSELs in co-packaged optics, the viability of Linear Pluggable Optics (LPO), and the significant, potentially underestimated, market for optical circuit switches. She also highlights Coherent's expanding work in non-telecom sectors like semiconductor inspection, fusion energy, and quantum technologies. Finally, she reflects on the challenges facing the photonics industry, such as supply chain pressures and the accelerating pace of technological adoption, and expresses a robust outlook on the opportunity driven by AI.
Insights from Coherent's CTO: Julie Eng on Innovation, Technology, and the Future of Photonics
Prestigious Recognition: Julie Eng, CTO of Coherent, has recently been honored with the Dr. Lisa Su Woman of Innovation Award and was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering, recognizing her significant contributions to the semiconductor and engineering fields.
Career Trajectory: Eng details her career journey, which began with a summer program at AT&T Bell Labs during the telecom boom, followed by a successful tenure at Finisar where she led the optical transceiver unit and the 3D sensing unit before becoming CTO at Coherent.
Defining the CTO Role: As CTO, Eng focuses on making her office useful to the company’s business units, staying current with new technologies, and fostering a culture of innovation. A key initiative is Coherent's "Innovation Summit," an internal conference with a pitch competition similar to Shark Tank to fund new ideas.
Future of VCSELs and Co-Packaged Optics: Eng is optimistic that VCSELs (Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers) have a future beyond 200Gbps per lane and are ideal for low-cost, low-power, short-reach (under 30m) co-packaged optics applications in scale-up networks. She also sees a role for silicon photonics-based co-packaged optics for longer-reach applications.
Emerging Optical Technologies: Eng believes Linear Pluggable Optics (LPO) will find a niche in short, controlled links. She is particularly bullish on Optical Circuit Switches (OCS), suggesting the market could exceed the company's initial $2 billion estimate by 2030 due to their ability to reconfigure AI clusters efficiently.
Expanding Beyond Datacom: Coherent is leveraging its laser and materials expertise in several high-tech fields, including semiconductor wafer inspection for 2-3nm nodes, laser annealing for OLED displays, biomedical brain imaging, and key components for both magnetic and laser inertial fusion energy projects.
On Women in Engineering: Eng describes her experience in the optical industry as meritocratic but notes the importance of actively seeking diverse opinions in meetings. She believes having people with different backgrounds, genders, and ways of thinking leads to better outcomes.
Key Industry Challenges: Eng identifies three major challenges: supply chain strain due to high demand, the dramatically accelerating pace of technology adoption (ramping to high volume in 2-3 years instead of 10), and navigating the shift from a standardized (transceivers) to a non-standardized world (co-packaged optics).
The AI-Driven Opportunity: Despite concerns of a potential bubble, Eng states that the demand from hyperscalers for AI infrastructure appears robust. She believes the industry is still in the "early innings" of the AI build-out, matching the public capital expenditure plans of major customers.