Ursula Gibson

Ursula Jane Gibson is a professor of physics at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology who specialises in novel core optical fibres. Gibson was elected in 2017 to become president of The Optical Society in 2019.

Early life and education

Gibson studied physics at Dartmouth College. She moved to Cornell University for her graduate studies. She earned her Master's degree in 1978 and her PhD in 1982. She worked under the supervision of Robert Buhrman on thin film composites. During her doctorate, she did summer research at Bell Labs.

Research and career

Gibson was appointed to the faculty of the University of Arizona, working in the Optical Sciences Center. She was made associate professor at the University of Arizona. In 1990 Gibson returned to the faculty in the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College. Here she taught materials science and nanotechnology. She was elected to the board of directors of The Optical Society in 2002.

Gibson joined the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in 2010. She is an adjunct professor at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology. She was elected to the International Commission on Optics Bureau in 2011. She works on optical materials and nanostructures, with a focus on photovoltaic cells.

Gibson works on novel core optical fibres made from group IV and III-V semiconductors. These contain semiconductors with nonlinear optical and electro-optic materials, which can be produced in bulk quantities. The fibres have low thermal mass and good aspect ratios, which allow for laser heat treatment that results in recrystallization and spatial segregation of alloy constituents. This allowed Gibson to specify where the germanium is located throughout crystalline SiGe core fibres. Rapid cooling allows the mixture to form a single crystal, which is optimised for optical transmission. Together with physicist Zahra Ghadyani, Gibson founded the company NorFib to commercialize a fiber-based system for generating electricity with solar energy.

In 2017 she was elected to Academia Net by the Swedish Research Council. Gibson was elected to be the 2019 president of The Optical Society.

Awards and honours

• 1997 NASA/American Society for Engineering Education Visiting Research Fellow
• 2001 National Academy of Engineering Frontiers in Engineering
• 2004 NASA Network of Educator Astronaut Teachers
• 2008 Fulbright scholarship VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
• 2019 President of The Optical Society

Personal life

Gibson is married to Ulf Österberg, an electronic engineer at NTNU.