Garret Moddel

Garret Moddel is Professor Emeritus of Photonics and Quantum Engineering in the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder. His research focuses on quantum engineering and device technology for energy conversion, most recently on devices using quantum zero-point fluctuations. He has invented devices to extract energy using zero-point energy fluctuations, thermoradiative energy-harvesting technology, geometric diodes, ultra-high-speed metal–insulator diodes for rectenna solar cells, and biomedical and optoelectronic technologies. At Colorado, he led a research group in quantum engineering to develop these and other energy-harvesting devices. He has also founded several high-tech start-up companies based on his device and energy research, and is a past president and current vice president of the Society for Scientific Exploration.

Moddel has authored numerous scientific papers on these and related technologies and is an inventor on more than 45 patents mostly associated with this work. His research has also encompassed experimental studies of psi phenomena and machine consciousness. He was named the first University of Colorado Inventor of the Year in the Physical Sciences in 2002, and is a Fellow of Optica, formerly the Optical Society of America. He earned a BSEE from Stanford University and MS and PhD degrees in Applied Physics from Harvard University.