Professional Biography: Nicholas Tufillaro
My research has covered a broad area of industrial, applied, experimental, and theoretical physics. A main theme in my work is the analysis and modeling of nonlinear behavior with a strong inclination toward the methods of computational science (Nonlinear Dynamics Resource Letter I, AJP, September 1997). During the last ten years I have worked as a research and development scientist at Agilent Technologies doing advanced modeling of new RF, microwave, and optical devices and measurement instrumentation, as well as laying the foundations for a general test and measurement methodology for the characterization and design of systems exhibiting nonlinear behavior (IEEE Trans. Circuits and Systems I 48 (9), 2001, IEEE Trans. on Microwave Theory and Techniques 52 (9), 2004). Most of the engineering applications of this work are geared toward the high-speed wireless and optical communications industries. Prior to my work at Agilent (which was formerly the test and measurement side of the Hewlett-Packard Company), I did experimental work on spatial temporal chaos in surface waves (PRL 62 (4), 422 (1989)), theoretical work in the topological characterization of low dimensional chaos (PRL 64 (20), 2350 (1990), PRE 51 (1), 164-174 (1995).), and also developed the first industrial photoluminescence system used in the large scale production of semi-conductor lasers. This work, done early in my career while I was at Bell Labs, helped in a small part to enable TAT-8, the first transatlantic fiber optic cable. I have also worked as a consultant for Dow Chemical, the Ford Motor Company, and the Hewlett-Packard Company, on issues of nonlinear system identification, modeling, and analysis. Lastly, I try to do my part for free software. I am one of the the two principal developers of the GNU plotutils package.
My most recent professional interest is the development of instrumentation and related computational models for the complex nonlinear processes associated with hydrologic science: specifically water quality and water flows both at the surface and subsurface. I am currently working with a number of researchers at Oregon State University on this topic where I hold a courtesy appointment in the Department of Biological and Ecological Engineering.I am qualified to lecture in undergraduate and graduate physics, and many courses in undergraduate mathematics, electrical engineering and a few topics in computer science and software engineering. Some standard courses I particularly like to teach are undergraduate quantum mechanics, undergraduate and graduate classical mechanics, ordinary differential equations, introductory and advanced mathematical methods for physicists and engineers, computational physics, and supervised undergraduate and graduate research. Specialty courses I have already developed or would like to develop include Nonlinear Dynamics, Computational Physics, Inverse Problems in Applied Physics, and a course on the modulation techniques and devices used in modern (spread spectrum and optical) communications systems. I have had great experiences involving undergraduates in research. I have directed about eight undergraduate research projects (Tina Mello, Ivan Lalovic) and several summer interns (Pete Wyckoff), almost all leading to publications mostly in the American Journal of Physics, one Ph.D student (Tim Molteno, while at the University of Otago), and three postdoctoral scientists (David Walker, Paul Gross and Brian Spears).
Courses I have previously taught include: Introductory Physics (Giancoli), Quantum Physics (Griffiths, Liboff), Mathematical Methods (Jordan and Smith), Modern Experiments in Physics (Sophomore Lab), and Nonlinear Dynamics (Tufillaro, Abbott, and Reilly).
My work in the past has been supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF PHY-9513071, NSF PHY-9724707), industrial research grants, and consultancy contracts.