Marc P. Christensen is one of the nation’s key leaders in mapping photonic technology onto applications. In 2007, DARPA identified him as a “rising star in microsystems research” for his development of an adaptive multi-resolution imaging architecture, and selected him to be one of the first of the 24 DARPA Young Faculty Award recipients.
From 1991-1998 he was a staff member and technical leader in BDM’s Sensors and Photonics group (now part of Northrop Grumman Mission Systems). His work ranged from developing optical signal processing and VCSEL-based optical interconnection architectures, to infrared sensor modeling, simulation, and analysis. In 1997, he co-founded Applied Photonics: a free-space optical interconnection module company. His responsibilities included hardware demonstration for the DARPA MTO FAST-Net, VIVACE, and ACTIVE-EYES programs, each of which incorporated precision optics, micro-optoelectronic arrays, and micro-mechanical arrays into large system level demonstrations.
In 2002 he joined Southern Methodist University where he rose through the ranks and served as the Department Chair of Electrical Engineering. In 2010, he was selected as the inaugural Bobby B. Lyle Professor of Engineering Innovation and is currently serving as Dean of the Lyle School of Engineering. Dr. Christensen’s research has focused on solutions using light to transmit, process, and sense information (photonics). At SMU he has led a number of large multi-institutional collaborations focused on sensing and imaging at resolutions that previously defied quantification. In computational imaging, his research group transitioned an adaptive multi-resolution digital imager with performance surpassing the detector limited resolution to defense partners. In analog super-resolution his group demonstrated for the first time an active imaging system with performance surpassing the diffraction limit (6x) of the passive camera system in an uncalibrated uncontrolled 3-D macroscopic environment. In biophotonic sensing, the team demonstrated an unprecedented sensitivity electric field sensor Chriwhich was simultaneously orders of magnitude smaller than previous designs, thereby enabling a biophotonic sensor for nerve action potentials. To enable our troops to see around corners, he led a team of researchers from SMU, Harvard, Rice, and Northwestern as part of the DARPA REVEAL Program. In 2008, Dr. Christensen was recognized for outstanding research with the Gerald J. Ford Research Fellowship. In 2011, he was recognized for outstanding and innovative teaching as a recipient of the Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor Award.
Dr. Christensen has co-authored over 100 journal and conference papers. He holds ten patents spanning the fields of free space optical interconnections and computational imaging.
Dr. Christensen received a B.S. in Engineering Physics from Cornell University in 1993, a M.S. in Electrical Engineering from George Mason University in 1998, and a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from George Mason University in 2001.