CableLabs is pleased to announce that trailblazing researcher and distinguished technologist Dr. Zhensheng “Steve” Jia has been advanced to CableLabs Fellow, our greatest distinction for technical achievement. Dr. Jia is a true pioneer in communications technology and possesses both exceptional hands-on skills and a strong theoretical background.
The prestigious credential, which recognizes and rewards outstanding contributions to technology, is the highest level of CableLabs’ Technical Career Path (TCP). The TCP is a unique competency-based program that affords researchers the opportunity to advance their careers and be promoted without leaving their area of expertise. Steve’s recommendation from the TCP board was recently reviewed and approved by the CableLabs Board of Directors.
Dr. Jia has more than two decades of experience in technology and research innovation. During that time, he’s made significant technical contributions to the fields of optical fiber and wireless communications systems and networking. He has twice been named CableLabs’ “Inventor of the Year,” and he has published more than 180 peer-reviewed journals and conference papers. He’s the author of Coherent Optics for Access Networks, one of the earliest books focusing on coherent optics for access networks. The book elaborates on technology development, economical modeling and application scenarios to adapt coherent technology to the access environment in ways that address major cost/power challenges and hardened requirements.
In each of his seven years at CableLabs, Dr. Jia has published an average of 24 technical articles, including journal manuscripts, conference papers, patents and book chapters. He holds 148 patents, including 117 U.S. patents and 31 international patents, several of which have been adopted for commercial development.
In recognition of his accomplishments in the advancement of optics and photonics, Dr. Jia was named a Fellow of Optica (formerly Optical Society of America) “for outstanding contributions to the development of interoperable coherent optical systems and fiber-wireless converged technologies for broadband access networks.”
Most recently, Dr. Jia has been the Technical Lead for Point-to-Point Coherent Optics specifications development and coherent transceiver interop testing. He is the Working Group Chair of the coherent passive optical network (CPON) project for next-generation 100G access networks; co-chair of the Industry Advisory Board (IAB) for the NSF Industry/University Collaborative Research Center for Fiber Wireless Integration and Networking (FiWIN); a Technical Editor of IEEE Network; and an Associate Editor of IEEE Photonics Journal.
We’re profoundly grateful for Dr. Jia’s foundational role in establishing CableLabs as an important source of insight in the optical and cable industry and advancing our capabilities in optical technologies. He has been instrumental in leading and participating in 10 successful technical demonstrations for the Board of Directors (BoD), including Coherent Optics, Coherent Passive Optical Network (CPON), Delta-Sigma Digitization, Full-Duplex Coherent Optics, Edge-Wavelength Switching System (EWSS), Coherent Optical Injection Locking (COIL), Coherent Upstream Burst (CUB), Extreme Cable, Flexible Full Fiber Capacity Comb for Converged Access (F3C3) and Real-Time Flow Identification.
Dr. Jia’s technical achievements have been crucial toward advancing the field of coherent optical systems and networks. As an innovator and visionary leader, he continues to make a notable impact on the cable and telecommunications industries.
Dr. Jia holds Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Electronic Engineering from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, and a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta.
CableLabs is delighted about his advancement to Fellow and grateful for the invaluable contributions he continues to make to the global industry.
