We are pleased to announce that Professor Garret Moddel, Professor Emeritus of Photonics and Quantum Engineering in the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, has been elected as an Academician of the World Academy of Artificial Consciousness (WAAC), in recognition of his important contributions to photonics, quantum engineering, optoelectronic devices, metal–insulator technology, geometric diodes, solar rectennas, energy-conversion devices, explorations related to quantum vacuum energy, the interaction between consciousness and physical systems, and experimental explorations related to machine consciousness.
Professor Garret Moddel is a distinguished scholar with important influence in the fields of photonics, quantum engineering, and novel energy-conversion devices. He has long been devoted to studying how quantum engineering, nanoscale devices, thin-film optoelectronic technologies, and high-speed metal–insulator structures can enable novel energy conversion, photodetection, and the control of physical systems. His work has systematically advanced the development of solar rectennas, metal–insulator–metal devices, geometric diodes, infrared detection, optoelectronic computing devices, quantum-engineered device technologies, and unconventional approaches to energy conversion. His research has not only deepened our understanding of the relationships among quantum devices, optoelectronic materials, nanostructures, energy conversion, and boundary questions in physical systems, but has also provided important theoretical and experimental foundations for exploring information, energy, measurement, stochastic processes, and engineering control mechanisms in complex physical systems. As a long-serving scholar in the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, Professor Moddel has continuously promoted interdisciplinary research in photonics, quantum engineering, energy devices, and frontier scientific questions. He has also conducted exploratory research on machine consciousness, intention and physical processes, machine-mediated experiments, and consciousness–engineering system interaction. He is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America and an IEEE Life Senior Member. He has served as President of the Society for Scientific Exploration and as President and Chief Executive Officer of Phiar Corporation, and has received honors including the University of Colorado Technology Transfer Lifetime Achievement Award and the University of Colorado Physical Sciences Inventor of the Year Award, making important contributions to photonics, quantum engineering, energy devices, and consciousness-related engineering experiments.
WAAC believes that research on artificial consciousness requires not only advances in artificial intelligence, cognitive science, neuroscience, computational models, and philosophical theory, but also open and careful interdisciplinary inquiry into the relationships among consciousness, information, energy, physical systems, machine processes, and experimentally testable mechanisms. Professor Moddel’s work on quantum engineering, optoelectronic devices, energy conversion, stochastic physical processes, machine-mediated experiments, and the interaction between consciousness and physical systems provides distinctive theoretical resources and methodological inspiration for exploring the physical foundations of artificial consciousness, experimental methods for machine consciousness, consciousness–machine interaction, modeling of information and energy processes, the physical implementation mechanisms of artificial agents, and testable experimental frameworks for future artificial consciousness systems. His research path, spanning electrical engineering, photonics, quantum engineering, energy devices, physical-system experiments, and consciousness-related exploration, offers important inspiration for connecting artificial consciousness research, physical-system modeling, engineering experimental platforms, and the construction of future machine consciousness systems.
In recognition of his outstanding contributions to photonics, quantum engineering, optoelectronic devices, metal–insulator technology, geometric diodes, energy-conversion devices, explorations related to quantum vacuum energy, the interaction between consciousness and physical systems, and experimental explorations related to artificial consciousness, the World Academy of Artificial Consciousness has decided to confer upon Professor Garret Moddel the title of Academician of WAAC.
- Global Collaboration and Academic Ecosystem
WAAC Academicians come from world-leading universities, national academy systems, and frontier research institutions, including Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford, the University of California, Columbia University, Princeton University, the University of Chicago, University College London, the University of Padua, the University of Queensland, the University of Exeter, the French Academy of Sciences, the German National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society, the Allen Institute for Brain Science, and the Max Planck Institute. The body of Academicians includes multiple Nobel Prize laureates, Turing Award laureates, members of national academies of sciences and engineering, Fellows of the Royal Society, and Fellows of internationally important academic organizations such as IEEE, AAAI, AAAS, and the British Academy. By bringing together leading scholars in natural consciousness research, machine consciousness modeling, brain science mechanisms, cognitive robotics, deep learning, brain-computer interfaces, and AI governance, WAAC has built an artificial consciousness research ecosystem that combines scientific depth, technological frontier orientation, philosophical insight, and global collaborative capacity, demonstrating its academic foundation and international influence in the emerging field of artificial consciousness science.
- About WAAC
The World Academy for Artificial Consciousness (https://www.waac.ac/) is a global academic institution established in Paris in 2025. Its mission is to advance frontier research and international collaboration in artificial consciousness through the integration of science, technology, and philosophy. The Academy publishes open research, policy recommendations, evaluation standards, and more. The current President is Academician Yucong Duan, and the Secretary-General is Dr. Yingbo Li. The Honorary Academician List: On May 3, 2025, WAAC released its first batch of Top 100 Honorary Academicians, recognizing scholars who have made foundational or leading contributions to the theory of artificial consciousness.