Personnel

Eric Udd, President of Columbia Gorge Research, has been deeply involved with fiber optic sensors since 1977. While at McDonnell Douglas from 1977 to 1993, he managed over 30 DOD, NASA, and internally funded fiber optic sensor programs. He held a series of positions moving from Engineer/Scientist, Unit Chief, Manager, and Senior Staff Manager-McDonnell Douglas Fellow. In 1993, he left McDonnell Douglas and founded Blue Road Research, dedicating the company to the development of fiber optic sensor and smart structure technology. He supported more than 30 fiber optic projects at Blue Road Research and directed the growth of the Blue Road Research from one engineer in 1993 to twelve in 2003. In January 2006 he left Blue Road Research to start Columbia Gorge Research. Mr. Udd founded Columbia Gorge Research with the intent of focusing strongly on the objective of moving fiber optic sensor technology to the field quickly and efficiently supporting both end users and developers of the fiber optic technology. While at Columbia Gorge Research he has supported medical, oil and gas, electric power, and aerospace and defense projects. 

Mr. Udd has 54 issued US Patents and many international patents on fiber optic technology, has written and or presented more than 200 papers, and has chaired over 30 international conferences on fiber optic sensor technology. His books include Field Guide to Fiber Optic Sensors, SPIE Press, 2014, Fiber Optic Sensors: An Introduction for Engineers and Scientists, Wiley, 2nd Edition, 2011, and Fiber Optic Smart Structures, Wiley, 1995. Mr. Udd is a Fellow and has served as a Director of SPIE-the International Society of Optical Engineering. He is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America (OSA), a member of IEEE, and the Laser and Electro-Optic Society (LEOS). Mr. Udd has been awarded the Richardson Medal (2009) by the Optical Society of America for his work on fiber optic sensors and the field of fiber optic smart structures.

William Spillman, Ph.D. received his advanced degree from Northeastern University in 1977. He has worked in industry at the Sperry Corporate Research Center, Geo-Centers, Inc., Hercules Inc. and the Goodrich Corporation prior to joining Virginia Tech as an Associate Professor of Physics and Director of the Virginia Tech Applied Biosciences Center in 1999. He is currently an Adjunct Professor of Physics at the University of Vermont and a Technical Consultant to a number of firms. He served as the Executive Chair of the 1996 and 1997 SPIE International Symposia on Smart Structures and Materials and was the Chair of the 2001 SPIE International Conference on Complex Adaptive Structures. He has been awarded 44 US and 50 non-US patents. He is the author or co-author of more than 170 technical publications, 16 book chapters and edited proceedings, and 2 video short courses. He is the editor of the CRC Press Sensors Series of Monographs and serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Smart Materials and Structures and Journal of Optics A: Pure and Applied Optics. In 1997, he was elected a Fellow of SPIE and, in 2000, he received an SPIE recognition award for his society activities in smart structures and materials. Dr. Spillman was elected a Fellow and Chartered Physicist in 2001 and a Chartered Scientist in 2004 by the Institute of Physics in the U.K. His current research activities include computational oncology, smart bio-medical implants, very long gauge length sensors with antenna gain, adaptive computational techniques, smart structures and materials, and complex systems. 

Thomas K. Plant, Ph.D. is a Senior Engineer/Scientist at Columbia Gorge Research. From 1975 to 1978 he was a member of the Technical Staff at Hughes Research Lab in Malibu, CA. In 1978 he left to become an Assistant Professor at Oregon State University in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) Department. He continues to be associated with Oregon State University and has acted as Chair of the EECS Department. Professor Plant has worked with Eric Udd for over 15 years on a series of fiber optic grating programs including high temperature fiber gratings for NASA, multi-dimensional strain sensing for the Air Force, and development of new techniques to manufacture fiber gratings. Professor Plant received his PhD from the University of Illinois. He is a Senior Member of IEEE and past President of the Columbia Chapter (Oregon and Southwest Washington) of the Optical Society of America. 

Holly Hoyt, Facilities Manager at Columbia Gorge Research, holds a B.S. from the University of Washington and an M.B.A. from the University of California at Irvine. Her responsibilities include marketing, strategic planning, grant and editorial work, overseeing logistics for over 200 foreign and domestic guests for Optical Fiber Sensors 2002 (OFS-15), generation and distribution of publications. A veteran of the hospitality industry, Ms. Hoyt thoroughly enjoys hosting associates, friends, and new acquaintances as well as entertaining international visitors. Having been raised in Oregon, she points guests of Columbia Gorge Research to sites of interest often known only to locals, including secluded hiking trails in the famous Columbia Gorge.