Biography
After obtaining his undergraduate degree in physical engineering at ULB, Marc Haelterman completed in 1989 a PhD in physical engineering at ULB.
He then spent 4 years abroad as a postdoc researcher in several laboratories (Laboratoire d’Electromagnétisme, microonde et optique (LEMO), Université de Grenoble, France – Fondazione Ugo Bordoni, Rome, Italy – Optical Sciences Center, Canberra, Australia). In 1994 he joined the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS). Since that time his reasearch interests span from fundamental nonlinear optics to the applications of nonlinear photonics in optical telecommunications and optical signal processing systems.
In recent years he focused his research on the physical implementation of artificial intelligence systems based on the concept of reservoir computing. In 2002 he became professor at ULB where he specialized in the teaching of first-year Physics at the Polytechnic School. He is author of 10 book chapters, more than 170 international journal articles and over 130 conference abstracts.
Marc Haelterman received several scientific prizes for his research (among which one finds the Fabry de Gramont Prize 1995 of the French Optical Society and the Alcatel-Bell Prize 1997 of the FNRS), as well as for his teaching (Socrates Prize 2005 of the ULB).
Teaching activities
PHYS-S1001 : Connaissances fondamentales et éléments de physique
PHYS-H101 : Connaissances fondamentales et éléments de physique
PHYS-H100 : Physique générale
PHYS-H302 : Elements d'optique physique
Research activities
During his PhD thesis Marc Haelterman studied fundamental and applied aspects of nonlinear optics with particular emphasis on the concepts of soliton and dissipative structure formation. During his postdoctoral stays abroad he revisited the modelling and the analysis of the physics of coherently pumped passive fiber cavities that, since then, were shown to have a strong interest for both fundamental and applied research in optics.
He also specialized in the field of vector optical solitons which led him to discover a new type of optical soliton – the so-called Domain-Wall Soliton for which he received the Fabry-de Gramont 1995 Prize of the French Optical Society. Since then Marc Haelterman has worked on several subjects linked to fundamental and applied aspects of nonlinear light propagation in optical waveguides and cavities: propagation instabilities, thermodynamical aspects of nonlinear optics, nonlinear optics of liquid crystals, spatial and temporal cavity solitons, etc…
A few years ago, he started a new research activity in the domain of artificial intelligence. The idea was to exploit his extended background in the field of nonlinear optics to develop ultrafast all-optical analog computers capable of solving tasks that are inaccessible to standard numerical computers. As demonstrated by the experimental work that he coordinates jointly with Prof. Serge Massar of the Sciences Faculty of ULB, the recent introduction in the literature of the concept of reservoir computing allows this old dream to be fulfilled.