Garret Moddel
Garret Moddel | |
|---|---|
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| Residence | Boulder, CO, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Stanford University (BSEE) Harvard University (MS, PhD) |
| Known for | zero-point energy, psi, new energy technologies, Society for Scientific Exploration, American Physical Society, IEEE, etc. |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Electrical engineering, applied physics, energy harvesting, parapsychology |
| Institutions | University of Colorado Boulder, Phiar Corporation |
Garret Moddel is an American electrical engineer and physicist who is professor emeritus of electrical, computer and energy engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder. He is known for his research on optical rectennas and energy-harvesting devices, and separately for his investigations into psi and other topics in parapsychology.
Biography
Moddel earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Stanford University and Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in applied physics from Harvard University. He joined the faculty of the University of Colorado Boulder, where he became a professor in the Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, working in the area of photonics and quantum engineering, and later professor emeritus.
In 2001 Moddel and Blake Eliasson spun the metal-insulator tunnel diode technology developed at the University of Colorado out into a start-up company, Phiar Corporation, which he co-founded along with Mike Estes, Steve Shear and Manoja Weiss. He served as president and chief executive officer of Phiar Corporation, which developed metal/insulator/metal diode and rectenna detector technology.
Moddel has also served as president of the Society for Scientific Exploration, an organization that promotes the study of topics outside the boundaries of mainstream science.
Work
At the University of Colorado, Moddel directs the New Energy Devices Laboratory, where his group investigates quantum engineering of new devices for energy conversion. His research includes rectenna solar cells, metal-insulator and metal-insulator-insulator-metal tunnel diodes, and geometric diodes intended to collect and rectify sunlight and waste heat at optical and infrared frequencies. His laboratory has also studied zero-point energy and quantum vacuum energy technologies, low-energy nuclear reactions, liquid crystal spatial light modulators, and other optoelectronic devices.
In parallel with his engineering work, Moddel's group has carried out experimental research into psi phenomena and questions concerning consciousness. He has published and lectured on the subject, and has argued that quantum mechanics does not, at least so far, provide a complete explanation for reported psi effects. He presents this line of research within the framework of scientific inquiry associated with the Society for Scientific Exploration.
Honors
Moddel is a member of professional bodies including the American Physical Society and the IEEE. He has served as president of the Society for Scientific Exploration and as president and CEO of Phiar Corporation.