Dr. Singer is a leading authority on novel optical materials and the Ambrose Swasey Professor of Physics at Case Western Reserve. His energy-related research involves novel organic semiconductor materials at the nanostructure level for next-generation photovoltaic applications, as well as research into photonic crystal concepts for concentrating sunlight in such materials.

 

He is the founding director of the Engineering Physics program at Case Western Reserve, and is a platform leader and on the executive committee for the Center for Layered Polymer Systems sponsored by the National Science Foundation.   He is a Fellow of both the American Physical Society and the Optical Society of America and has served as an Associate Editor of the Journal of the Optical Society of America B: Optical Physics.  

 

He started his career as a Member of Technical Staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories in Princeton, New Jersey.  While there, he received the Bell Laboratories Exceptional Achievement Award in 1986 for the invention of polymeric materials for use in directly switching optical data.  In 1989, he was named Distinguished Member of Technical Staff at Bell Laboratories.  

 

He moved to Case Western Reserve in 1990 to be the Warren Rupp Associate Professor of Physics, and was project co-director in the National Science Foundation center on Advanced Liquid Crystalline Optical Materials.  His research is focused on the optical and electronic properties of functional polymers and liquid crystals.  In addition to his interests in photovoltaic technology, he is currently investigating photonic crystals, dynamic holography, and optical switching, as well as novel materials for a new generation of lasers.  

 

Professor Singer earned his B.S. in Physics summa cum laude from The Ohio State University, and his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Pennsylvania.