Faculty Feature: Clint Schow
Clint Schow is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UC Santa Barbara and teaches ENGR 416: Principles and Applications of Optoelectronic Devices in the METL program. Dr. Schow's research focuses on closely integrating electronics and photonics to push the boundaries of speed and efficiency for the photonic links and optical networks that data centers and AI systems increasingly depend upon to share and move data. His primary research areas include: optoelectronic/electronic integration and co-design; photonic switching; equalization techniques for high-speed optical links; optoelectronic devices; and integrated transceiver packaging.
What motivated you to teach in the METL program?
Optoelectronic devices are where my own career started — a graduate course in the subject is what pointed me toward high-speed optical communications in the first place. METL is a chance to teach that same material to working professionals who are already in the field and want to build a deeper technical foundation.
What inspired you to design this course?
It's a subject that shaped my own path, and I think it deserves a course that goes beyond device trivia. The central question is how you get from the physics of light interacting with a semiconductor to a working device that meets real speed, power, and efficiency requirements. The course walks through that arc — bandgap engineering, LEDs, lasers, photodetectors, and modulators — so students build up device-level intuition along the way.
How does your class prepare students for new careers or new directions in their careers?
Optoelectronic devices underpin a lot of the high-speed optical technology that's increasingly important in industry, especially as AI infrastructure pushes demand for bandwidth and power efficiency. A stronger grasp of the devices themselves can help students engage more confidently with that part of the stack, whatever role they're in.
What is something covered in the course that students might not expect?
Students are sometimes surprised that a course with a substantial focus on high-speed communications devices spends real time on LEDs and displays. But comparing Micro-LEDs to VCSELs for short-reach optical interconnects turns out to be a genuinely useful exercise — the same underlying device physics gets pulled in different directions depending on whether the target is a display pixel or a data link and seeing that contrast sharpens students' intuition for both.
Applications for the METL program are now open. Classes begin in Fall 2027.
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