Marc P. Christensen

Contact Information

Education

B.S., Engineering Physics, Cornell University, 1993; M.S., Electrical Engineering, George Mason University, 1997; Ph.D., Electrical & Computer Engineering, George Mason University, 2001

Research Concentrations

Photonics: Integrated Photonic Signal Processing, Computational Imaging, Optical Interconnections, Photonic Neural Interfaces

Research Accomplishments and Activities

Local News Coverage of Computational Imaging Project: http://www.smu.edu/Lyle/AboutUs/Newsroom/2009/7-9-09CW33CameraResearch.aspx; WIRED Magazine blog on Computational Imaging Project: http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/07/darpas-smart-flat-camera-is-packed-with-beady-eyes; DARPA Young Faculty Award (2007)

Research Philosophy

Sustain a creative culture where no idea is too "stupid" to mention and students feel comfortable enough to challenge the faculty and each other. Often, the best idea comes out of teams reacting to suggestions that won't work but inspire a new direction. Tackle big projects that necessitate collaborators from different fields. Expose yourself to seemingly unrelated areas of creative and innovative work. Inspiration strikes unpredictably. Build it. Build it. Build it.

Courses Taught

EE1382 Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering; EE 5/7336 Integrated Photonics; EE 5/7390 Introduction to Optoelectronics; EE 5/7391 Fourier Optics

Publications

• M. W. Haney and M. P. Christensen, “Sliding Banyan Network,” Journal of Lightwave Technology, Vol. 14, No. 5, pp. 703-710, (May 1996).
• R. R. Michael, M. P. Christensen, and Michael W. Haney , “Experimental Evaluation of the 3-D Optical Shuffle Module of the Sliding Banyan Architecture,” Journal of Lightwave Technology, Vol. 14, No. 9, pp. 1970-1978, (September 1996).
• M. W. Haney and M. P. Christensen , “Sliding Banyan Network Performance Analysis,” Applied Optics, Vol. 36, No. 11, pp. 2334-2342, (April 1997).
• M. P. Christensen and M. W. Haney, “Two-Bounce Optical Arbitrary Permutation Network,” Applied Optics, special issue on Optics in Computing, Vol. 37, No. 14, pp. 2879-2885, (May 1998).
• M. W. Haney and M. P. Christensen ,  “Performance Scaling Comparison for Free-space Optical and Electrical Interconnection Approaches,” Applied Optics, special issue on Optics in Computing, Vol. 37, No. 14, pp. 2886-2894, (May 1998).
• M. W. Haney, M. P. Christensen,  P. Milojkovic, J. Ekman, P. Chandramani, R. Rozier, F. Kiamilev, Y. Liu, M. Hibbs-Brenner, J. Nohava, E. Kalweit, S. Bounnak, T. Marta, B. Walterson, “FAST-Net Optical Interconnection Prototype Demonstration,” Journal of Optics A: Pure and Applied Optics, No. 1, pp. 228-232, (January 1999). 
• M. P. Christensen, P. Milojkovic, and M. W. Haney, “Low-distortion Hybrid Optical Shuffle Concept,” Optics Letters, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp. 169-171, (February 1999).
• M. W. Haney, M. P. Christensen,  P. Milojkovic, J. Ekman, P. Chandramani, R. Rozier, F. Kiamilev, Y. Liu, M. Hibbs-Brenner, “Multi-chip Free-space Global Optical Interconnection Demonstration with Integrated Arrays of Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers and Photodetectors,” Applied Optics, Vol. 38, No. 29, pp. 6190-6200, (October 1999).
• (invited paper) M. W. Haney, M. P. Christensen, P. Milojkovic, G. Fokken, M. Vickburg, B. Gilbert, J. Rieve, J. Ekman, P. Chandramani, F. Kiamilev,  “Description and Evaluation of the FAST-Net Smart Pixel-based Optical Interconnection Prototype,” IEEE Proceedings Special Issue on Optical Interconnections for Digital Systems, Vol. 88, No. 6, pp. 819-828, (June 2000).
• M. P. Christensen, G. Euliss, M. J. McFadden, K. M. Coyle, P. Milojkovic, M. W. Haney, J. van der Gratch, R. Athale, “ACTIVE-EYES:  An Adaptive Pixel-by-Pixel Image Segmentation Sensor Architecture for High Dynamic Range Hyperspectral Imaging,” in Feature Issue of Applied Optics on Integrated Analysis and Design of Analog and Digital Processing in Imaging Systems, Vol 41, Issue 29, pp. 6093-6103, (October 2002).
• M. P. Christensen, P. Milojkovic, M. W. Haney, “Analysis of a Hybrid Micro/Macro-optical Method for Distortion Removal in Free-space Optical Interconnections,” Journal of the Optical Society of America A, Vol. 19, No. 12, pp 2473-2478, (December 2002).
• M. P. Christensen, M. J. McFadden, P. Milojkovic, M. W. Haney , “Experimental Validation of a Hybrid Micro/Macro-optical Method for Distortion Removal in Free-space Optical Interconnections,” Applied Optics, Vol 41, Issue 35, pp 7480-7486, (December 2002).
• P. Chandramani, P. Gui, J. Ekman, X. Wang, F. Kiamilev, A. Cox, K. Driscoll, B. Vanvoorst, J. Anderson, M. Christensen, P. Milojkovic, and M. Haney, “Design of a Multi-Gigabit Optical Network Interface Card,” Special Issue on Optical Interconnects in IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics , Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 636-646, (March/April 2003).
• M. Christensen, P. Milojkovic, M. J. McFadden, and M. W. Haney, “Multi-scale optical design for global chip-to-chip optical interconnections and misalignment tolerant packaging,” Special Issue of IEEE Journal of Special Topics in Quantum Electronics on Optical Interconnections, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 548-556, (March/April 2003).
• J. Mait, M. W. Haney, Keith Goossen, and M. P. Christensen, “Shedding Light on the Battlefield:  Tactical Applications of Photonic Technology,” Defense and Technology Papers, Vol 1, No. 7, (November 2004).
• P. Milojkovic, M. P. Christensen, and M. W. Haney, “Tradeoffs Between Lens Complexity and Real Estate-Utilization in a Free-space Multi-chip Global Interconnection Model,” Journal of the Optical Society of America A, Vol 23, No. 7, pp 1787-1795, (July 2006).
• Hseuh-Ban Lan, Sally L. Wood, Marc P. Christensen, Dinesh Rajan, “Benefits of Optical System Diversity for Multiplexed Image Reconstruction,” in Special Issue of Applied Optics on Task Specific Sensing, Vol. 45, No. 13, pp 2859-2870, (May 2006).
• Manjunath Somayaji, Marc P. Christensen, “Enhancing Form Factor and Light Collection of Multiplexed Imaging Systems using a Cubic Phase Mask,” in Special Issue of Applied Optics on Task Specific Sensing, Vol. 45, No. 13, pp. 2911-2923 (May 2006).
• Marc P. Christensen, Vikrant Bhakta, Dinesh Rajan, Tejaswini Mirani, Scott C. Douglas, Sally L. Wood, Michael W. Haney , “Adaptive Flat Multi-resolution Multiplexed Computational Imaging Architecture utilizing Micro-mirror arrays to Steer Sub-imager Fields-of-view,” in Special Issue of Applied Optics on Task Specific Sensing, Vol. 45, No. 13, pp. 2884-2892, (May 2006).
• Jian Tong, Kent Wade, Duncan MacFarlane, Scott McWilliams, Gary A. Evans and Marc P. Christensen, “Active Integrated Photonic True Time Delay Device,” IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Vol. 18, No. 16, 1720, pp. 1720-1722, (August 2006).
• Tiberiu Constantinescu, Viswanath Ramakrishna, Nicholas Spears, L. Roberts Hunt, Jian Tong, Issa Panahi, Govind Kannan, Duncan L. MacFarlane, Gary A. Evans and Marc P. Christensen, “Composition Methods for Four-Port Couplers in Photonic Integrated Circuitry,” accepted for publication in  Journal of the Optical Society A , (July 2006).
• Manjunath Somayaji & Marc P. Christensen, “Frequency analysis of the wavefront coding odd-symmetric quadratic phase mask,” accepted for publication in Applied Optics, (July 2006).
• Jian Tong, Duncan L. MacFarlane, Issa Panahi, L. Roberts Hunt, Govind Kannan, Gary A. Evans and Marc P. Christensen, “Direct Form I Realization of Active Photonic Filters,” submitted to Journal of Fiber and Integrated Optics , (2006).
• Manjunath Somayaji & Marc P. Christensen, “Improving photon count and flat profiles of multiplex imaging systems with the odd-symmetric quadratic phase modulation mask,” submitted to Applied Optics , (2006).
• T. Mirani, D. Rajan, & M. P. Christensen, “Computational Imaging Systems: Joint Design and End to End,” Appl. Opt. Feaure Issue on Task Specific Sensing 47, B86-B103 (2008).
• N. Huntoon, M. Christensen, D. MacFarlane, G. Evans, and C. Yeh, “Integrated photonic coupler based on frustrated total internal reflection,” Appl. Opt. 47, 5682-5690 (2008).

• S. C. Douglas, M. P. Christensen, and G. C. Orsak, “Designing Pre-College Engineering Curricula and Technology: Lessons Learned From the Infinity Project,” Proceedings of the IEEE Volume 96,  Issue 6,  June 2008 Page(s):1035 - 1048

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.  In 2010, he was selected as the inaugural Bobby B. Lyle Professor of Engineering Innovation and is currently serving as Dean ad interim of the Lyle School of Engineering.  Dr. Christensen brought together a team of researchers from five institutions to develop an optical interface to the nervous system.  He is the Center Director of the Neurophotonics Research Center, a DARPA sponsored University Focused Research Center developing a fiber optic interface for advanced prosthetic interfaces which will enable amputees to control a robotic limb with thought and experience sensations such as the warmth of a loved one’s hand.

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 has two patents in the field of free space optical interconnections, one pending in the field of integrated photonics, and four pending in the field of 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.