RIP Sir Charles Kuen Kao – The Father of Fibre Optic Technology

We’re saddened to report that Nobel Prize winner Sir Charles Kuen Kao (aka – “Father of Fibre Optics“), whom was jointly awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics for “ground-breaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibres for optical communication“, passed away yesterday at 11:45am in Hong Kong.

The professor is well known for helping to develop some of the underlying technology behind today’s modern fibre optic networks (e.g. FTTP), which are helping to deliver ever faster data and consumer broadband ISP speeds to people all across the world.

Unfortunately Prof. Kao was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2002, although he managed to battle on until passing away yesterday at the age of 84. Prof. Kao and his wife, Mrs Gwen Kao founded the Charles K. Kao Foundation for Alzheimer’s Disease in 2010, aiming to increase public awareness of the disease and to support patients.

Mrs Gwen Kao, Chairman of the Foundation, said:

“As one of the last wishes of Prof. Kao, our Foundation will keep up our work in supporting people with Alzheimer’s disease and their families. We hope you can show solidarity with our Foundation in supporting the last wishes of Prof. Kao.”

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