Dominican earns doctoral degree, takes up position in Silicon Valley

Another Dominican high achiever, Francis Anthony Smith, has joined the ranks of Silicon Valley engineers in the United States after receiving a doctoral degree in electrical engineering.

Dr. Smith is employed as a Silicon Photonics Hardware Engineer.

He received his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Rochester, New York on October 4, 2019, The PhD Diploma was conferred on him by the University in virtual graduation this month.

Smith’s scholastic journey was punctuated by a number of academic achievements which served as a precursor to his current accomplishments.

Francis Smith, who is the son of Jude and Avis Smith, was born in Roseau, St. George, Commonwealth of Dominica in 1989.  He attended St. Mary’s Academy and graduated in June 2005.  He was awarded top CXC honors in November of that year by the Ministry of Education.

Smith then attended the City College of New York and graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Grove School of Engineering in June 2011, with a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electrical Engineering and a minor in Physics.  Francis completed his undergraduate studies as a National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) scholar and a New York City Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (NYC-LSAMP) research scholar.  He credits his well-rounded scholastic foundation to his roots at the St. Mary’s Academy, in Roseau, Dominica.

In the of Fall 2011, Smith began graduate studies at the University of Rochester in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering under the Provost Fellowship, along with the Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science (GEM) Fellowship.  He completed his Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Rochester in 2013.

Smith pursued his doctoral research in Integrated Silicon Photonic design, fabrication, and testing under the direction of Professor Hui Wu.  He worked at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center in 2012 and Brookhaven National Laboratory in 2011, and between June 2016 and March 2017.  He also undertook a teaching fellowship in Ghana, Africa during the Summer of 2014.

Dr. Smith’s doctoral research focused on Integrated Silicon Photonic Optical Phased Arrays for Free-Space Optical Interconnects. (DNO)