Innovation Matters | Invention of Low-Loss Optical Fiber | Corning

In 1970, three Corning scientists developed the world's first low-loss optical fiber. Meet the founders, Drs. Robert Maurer, Donald Keck, and Peter Schultz, and learn more about the innovative process that brought low-loss optical fiber to life.

What inspired the three Corning scientists that led the invention of low-loss optical fiber, and what do they think about the milestone today? Find out, in their own words.

The inventors of low-loss optical fiber discuss a variety of topics – both technical and non-technical – related to the development process.

There was no defined process when developing the first low-loss optical fiber. Watch as the inventors discuss the unique challenges, and their approach.

One facet of Total Quality? Listen as our inventors describe the importance of collaboration during the development process.

No one, even its inventors, could have predicted the impact the invention of low-loss optical fiber would have on the world, and the revolution it enabled both in and outside of Corning.

Without a committed customer or a confirmed application, the demand for optical fiber was driven by a unique source.

The inventors of low-loss optical fiber discuss Corning’s scientific culture and how it contributed to the invention of optical fiber, with a focus on manufacturing excellence still evident today.

Watch as the development team describes the factors that brought them together and the characteristics that made them successful. 

Inventor Donald Keck describes the moment that changed history, setting the stage for the mass production of optical fiber and our dedication to manufacturing.

Watch as the inventors share interesting, and sometimes unexpected, perspectives around optical fiber. 

Today’s internet was enabled by the union of several key technologies, and optical fiber fueled them all.

Finding the right problem is sometimes the best place to start when looking at a career in science. 

One indicator of a product developed and manufactured with a dedication to quality is the significance it has more than 50 years later. 

The first step toward the production of optical fiber and more than 50 years of Corning’s manufacturing excellence? Listen to inventor Robert Maurer’s simple answer.

Corning’s manufacturing processes have long complemented its work in the lab, simplifying the complex and making the impossible possible.

The only medium capable of powering the technologies we have come to rely on today was built on a foundation of quality.

Measurement remains a critical component of Corning’s manufacturing processes. Listen as one inventor describes its importance in technology.

Thinking outside the box led to the use of a very surprising “tool” during the fiber invention process.

Sometimes what you do not do is just as important as what you do. See how that applies to the scientific process. 

Success during the invention process was defined by reaching a 20 decibel attenuation goal, but why?