Want to create an interactive transcript for this episode?
Podcast: The Future of Everything
Episode: Jelena Vuckovic: Photonics — a light on the computing horizon
Description: Photonics engineers are working toward a day when fast, energy efficient computers do their mathematics using photons — packets of light — instead of electrons.
Experts estimate that computers gobble up as much as 10% of global electricity. They predict that that share will only grow as data centers expand and the internet of things brings scads of new computer-controlled devices to the world.
Jelena Vuckovic is an electrical engineer who sees a light on the horizon — quite literally. She is building computers that calculate and communicate more with photons than electrons. These “photonic” devices could cut energy consumption in half and empower exciting n...