Dr. Waguih S. Ishak

Director, Photonics & Electronics Research Laboratory
Agilent Laboratories, Palo Alto , California

Waguih Ishak received a B.Sc. degree (with Honor) in electrical engineering from Cairo University in 1971 and a B.Sc. degree in mathematics (with Honor) from Ain Shams University , Egypt , in 1973.  His M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering  (Magnetic Bubble Memories) were awarded by McMaster University in 1975 and 1978, respectively.  He joined Hewlett-Packard Laboratories in 1978 where he designed magnetic bubble propagation and detection circuits and surface acoustic wave (SAW) low-loss filters.  In 1981, he became a project leader and in 1983 he was the project manager of the Sources and Signal Processing Group and was responsible for transferring SAW and nonlinear gallium arsenide technologies to HP’s Spectrum Analyzer and Oscilloscope divisions resulting in many HP products such HP 8562 Microwave Spectrum Analyzer, HP 54121, HP54123 & HP54124 High-Speed Digitizing Scopes 

In 1987, Waguih became the manager of the Photonics Technology Department, of the Instruments & Photonics Laboratory which is responsible for R&D programs in fiber optics, integrated optics, optoelectronics, micro optics, and optical interconnects for applications in measurements, communications (datacom and telecom), and computer interconnects. The department was responsible for generating a new business for HP in lightwave Test & Measurements such as lightwave component and spectrum analyzers, tunable laser sources, frequency and time-domain reflectometers, and polarization analyzers. The department was also responsible for starting new R&D programs in the areas of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers, high-speed parallel optical interconnects (POLO), optical measurements for process monitoring and control, and electronic digital films for photography and memory applications.

In 1995, Waguih was promoted to Director of the Communications & Optics Research Laboratory (CORL). Waguih lead his team to work on R&D programs in the areas of Photonics (Fiber optics, integrated optics, optoelectronics, and micro optics) and Integrated Electronics. The emphasis was on fiber-optic communications, wireless communications and the use of optics and electronics in novel applications in communications, computations and measurements. Many products came out from the research work such as the Optical Mouse, the Photonic Switch and the Parallel Optical Interconnects Modules.

Waguih is currently the Director of the Photonics & Electronics Research Lab at Agilent Labs (Agilent was spun off HP in 1999) and is responsible for the R&D programs in Photonics, High Speed Electronics, Sensors, Semiconductor Test, Wireless Communications and Consumer Electronics.

Waguih has written about 40 journal and conference papers, four chapters in the “Handbook of Electronic Instruments.”  He is named an inventor in seven patents.