Pioneering expert in Fiber Optics. 40+ years of experience in teaching, R&D, and entrepreneurship. Served as Director in many projects sponsored by NASA, DoD, NSF, and NIH, with multi-million dollar budgets. Holds over 20 US and international patents or patents pending. Published articles in over 100 technical journals. Directed international programs in Germany, France, Canada, Brazil, China, and Japan.

Long Bio

Dr. El-Sherif has received his MS. and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA, respectively. He has 40 years of experience in teaching and R&D as well as entrepreneurial developments. He is one of the leading American inventors in the areas of fiber optics, optoelectronic materials, semiconductors, and smart and intelligent materials/structures. Along with serving as a Professor of Materials and Electrical and Computer Engineering at Drexel University, between 1989 and 2003, he was also the Founder and Director of the Drexel University “Fiber Optics and Photonics Manufacturing Engineering Center.” 

Currently, Dr. El-Sherif is the President & CEO and Founder of the Photonics Group Companies (Photonics, Inc., Photonics Laboratories, Inc., Photonics GTT, Inc., and the Photonics On-Fiber Devices, Inc.) in Philadelphia, USA. 

He served as the Director (or Principal Investigator) of several US Federal and State Research and Development Programs with the NASA Lewis Research Center, NASA Langley Research Center, the Department of Defense (Army, Navy, and Air Forces), The National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Health (NIH), and The Ben Franklin Technology Center of South Eastern Pennsylvania. In addition, he served as the Project Director of a large number of industrial programs with small and large size companies, including the David Sarnoff Research Center (formally RCA), General Electric (GE), GM Company, Smith and Nephew Richards, Inc., Vickers, Inc., and Saphikon, Inc. In addition, Dr. El-Sherif has served as a Project Director for several international collaborative projects with Japan, China, France, Germany, and Brazil. He has been invited as a Panel Speaker for many national and international Conferences. He has published several book chapters and over 120 papers, and supervised 20 PhD and MS theses, and holds 20 US Patents and Patent Pending.