JOSHUA SMITH
Inventor, cybersecurity expert, entrepreneur and expert in the field of nanotechnology with a wide breadth of experience. He is a lead inventor at OPē Technologies and head of research and development at Agion. Joshua is a primary inventor on more than 10 awarded patents in the light-based computing and encryption fields. He holds multiple certifications from Georgia Tech for wafer processing and optical engineering. Joshua has more than 10 years of experience with photonics and more than 17 years of experience with computing technology and cybersecurity. He has planned and executed multiple international multi-million dollar projects and is comfortable anywhere from the lab to the boardroom.
CHAD MCCOLLUM
An expert in photonics, an entrepreneur and expert in electronic systems and processes with wide ranging experience from schematic designs to silicon process flow development. He has been a lead inventor at OPē since its inception. Chad is co-inventor on all of OPē’s patents. With hundreds of hours of experience, he has been certified on more than 80 different systems and machines at Georgia Tech and Kent State. Chad has more than 30 years experience in the electrical and electronic field. He is a central part of OPē and the success of the technological development. With his technical insight and business experience, Chad is able to guide the business toward success.
In June 2013, OPē began patenting the developed intellectual property. A new project was started in 2015 that would become what is the current DUODS device. In August 2015 the DUODS device reached viability to the point of working directly with the cybersecurity group, Cybercrypt, in Copenhagen, Denmark, for the purpose of cryptographic validation and collaboration.
OPē also began working directly with Georgia Tech at the Institute of Electronics and Nanotechnology (IEN) during this same time. At Georgia Tech, the OPē team began training and certification in the cleanrooms at IEN. This began a new age of innovation at OPē, with silicon processing and nanotechnology being apart of the capabilities of the team. In October 2015, the DUODS project moved on to the next stage of development, by beginning a feasibility study and security validation at Fraunhofer IPMS, in Dresden, Germany. Once the feasibility study was successful, OPē continued to develop processes and designs at Georgia Tech. During this time, the security validation continued at Georgia Tech.
In December of 2017, OPē began work with the Liquid Crystal Institute (LCI), at Kent State, in Kent, Ohio.
At LCI, OPē continued the development of the DUODS chip process flow. The security validation continued with independent groups, along with Cybercrypt.
In 2019, OPē began to search for proper foundries and partners to productize the DUODS chip.
Symmetric Data Encryption System and Method
In 2016, OPē developed a symmetric data encryption system which utilizes light to perform data encryption. “Light” as used herein is not limited to visible light, and is used to generally refer to any light in the electromagnetic spectrum. Distinct wavelengths of light representing in their respective amplitudes numerical operands or segments of a data stream interact with a predetermined distortion-inducing amplitude of light to produce cumulative light values which are subsequently sensed by corresponding light sensors. Voltages across the plurality of light sensors are determined by the total light of a particular wavelength incident upon each light sensor; the total light representing a segment combined with the distortion-inducing value. Values representing the total light incident upon each sensor are then transmitted as an encrypted signal. The predetermined distortion-inducing amplitude has a different distortion-inducing effect per wavelength of light with which it interacts. The manner in which the distortion-inducing light varies is known to both the encoder and the decoder.
Following transmission of the encrypted signal, light values are reproduced at a transmission decoder and the distortion-inducing value is removed or compensated for, thereby making available the original data. Alternatively, the original data is determined from a look-up table using the transmitted encrypted signal. Because the distortion is different for different wavelengths of light and for different amplitudes of the distortion-inducing light, the distortion of the data serves to encrypt the aforementioned data stream in a robust and novel fashion.
Dr. Oliver Brand
Professor, Executive Director, Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology at Georiga Tech.
Timelapse of OPē in the Georgia Tech clean room.