ENERGY

Iris Light Technologies

Chain Reaction Innovations at Argonne National Laboratory / Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago

Iris Light powers the Cloud through breakthrough on-chip laser technology. Data centers currently consume 2% of global electricity. This trend will only accelerate with the exponential bandwidth demands of Artificial Intelligence (AI), 5G communications, and the Internet of Things (IoT). With 1000x anticipated bandwidth growth by 2030, the dual goals of increasing capacity while reducing energy consumption pose significant challenges to both the industry and the environment.

The Iris Light solution increases the bandwidth and energy-efficiency of light chips through a proprietary, scalable method of depositing multiple lasers on a chip, all inside the chip maker.

Iris Light is an Argonne National Lab spinout, and currently incubating in the Chain Reaction Innovations program funded by the Department of Energy.

Website: www.irislighttech.com

Ellie Price, COO, is a strategy, operations and business development professional with 7+ experience managing international teams and building and growing strategic initiatives from the ground-up across industry verticals. While in graduate school at the University of Chicago, Price worked as an investment banking summer associate at Credit Suisse, covering industrials, and as a venture capital associate with the George Shultz Innovation Fund.

Chad Husko, Founder/CEO, is working to transform the silicon photonics industry by leveraging cutting edge research in photonics and nanomaterials to solve ‘the silicon laser problem’. Iris’s laser technology is an essential element enabling applications in optical sensors, communications, and biophotonics in integrated photonic chips (miniaturized light-based circuits). Chad actively promotes the optics and photonics industries through professional service and public outreach. His recent contributions include serving in the inaugural class of Optical Society (OSA) ‘Ambassadors’ in 2016, as chair of several OSA award committees, and the Traveling Lecturer program. In 2017, he was selected as an OSA Senior Member in recognition of his professional contributions. Chad holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Applied Physics from Columbia University (New York, USA), and B.S. degrees in Physics and Mathematics from Loyola University Chicago.