The Invisible Man, H.G. Wellss 1881 novella, describes invisibility and invisibility cloaking concepts that are currently being explored and discovered by a WNCG research group directed by assistant professor Andrea Alu. He used Wells story as a base for explaining his unique and innovative cloaking technique to make three-dimensional objects invisible. Alu took The Invisible Man approach in his February TedxAustin talk, which was part of the FearLess topic.
Last year, Alu and his research team demonstrated for the first time that, using metamaterials, it is possible to make a 3-D object invisible to microwaves, a discovery that could bring us a step closer to hiding large and diverse objects from detection by light waves in the visible range, or radar. The team used a method known as plasmonic cloaking to hide an 18-centimeter cylindrical tube. In Alus ongoing research into the way light interacts with materials, invisibility cloaking seems to be moving more toward straddling the line of Wells science fiction and our present-day reality.
Dr. Andrea Alu is an assistant professor with WNCG. He is also affiliated with the Applied Research Laboratories at The University of Texas at Austin. His research focuses on electromagnetics and acoustics.
Check out Alu's TEDxAustin coverage:
Watch the presentation: http://youtu.be/jseHPnqXlPY
Read the script: http://www.engr.utexas.edu/features/andrea-alu-on-the-quest-to-invisibi…