[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Ishak.jpg” caption=”Waguih Ishak, vice-president and director of west coast research for Corning Inc. Photo courtesy of Faculty of Engineering.”]Anyone interested in seeing what the future holds will want to attend this year's Bell Canada Lecture. Waguih Ishak, vice-president and director of west coast research for Corning Inc., will speak about The Digital Society of the 21st Century on Wednesday, March 26 at 5 p.m. in the Information Technology Building, Room AB102.

During his lecture, Ishak will discuss how society is approaching a highly creative era in which digital consumer electronics and life sciences will drive much of high technology research and products for the betterment of people, society and the environment.

In particular, he will look at the integration of photonics and electronics, and the development of such devices as lab-on-a-chip, instrument-on-a-chip and communication circuits, to name a few. These achievements directly impact problems that matter to society, including good health, good communications and good entertainment.

Ishak is an alumnus of McMaster, receiving both his MSc and PhD degrees in electrical engineering from the University in 1975 and 1978, respectively. He is also a graduate of the Stanford Executive Program at Stanford University.

Ishak spent 16 years working at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories and then joined Agilent Labs in 2003 when it was spun off from the company. In 2005, he moved to Avago Technologies and then joined Corning Inc. in his current position in 2007.

The Bell Lecture series is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. It was created in 1978 in honour of Alexander Graham Bell. An outstanding guest lecturer is featured each year speaking on a topic related to information and emerging technologies. The lecture is organized by the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at McMaster.

The lecture is open to the public and free of charge. Refreshments will be served in the annex of ITB, outside room A111. For further information, please visit www.ece.mcmaster.ca or contact Alexa Huang at alexa@mail.ece.mcmaster.ca or 905-525-9140, ext 24347.