Aref Chowdhury

Chief Technology Officer & Head of Strategy

Dr. Chowdhury joined Lightwave Logic in January 2026 as its Chief Technology Officer and Head of Strategy, bringing extensive, large corporation experience in disruptive optical technologies and intellectual property. He has over 30 years of experience developing and leading the technology strategies for optical technologies. 

Before joining Lightwave Logic, Aref served as Vice President Strategy and Chief Technology Officer of Network Infrastructure for Nokia where he led the development and execution of the technology roadmap and long-term strategy for a $10 billion annual revenue business group spanning IP routing, optical, access and subsea communication systems. Prior to that role, he served as Chief Technology Officer of Optics at Nokia, where he developed and managed the technological roadmap for optical technologies supporting next-generation optical communications systems. Earlier in his career, Dr. Chowdhury held senior roles in research and intellectual property at Bell Laboratories (Lucent Technologies and Alcatel-Lucent).

 

Aref earned his doctorate in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research has been widely published, and he is a Fellow of Optica (formerly the Optical Society) and Bell Labs, and a recipient of the MIT TR100 Award. He is also involved with both the IEEE and Optica including his role as the IEEE Photonics Society’s Vice President of Professional & Technical Development and Member of the Board of Governors.