Eric Udd earned a B.S. in math and physics from the University of Washington in 1974. He also earned an MSE from Princeton University in 1977. Upon graduating, he joined McDonnell Douglas, where he stayed for 16 years. In 1989, he was named one of the company’s 40 Fellows. In 1993, he founded and served as President of Blue Road Research. He later became Vice President of Technology in 2003. In 2006, he became President of Columbia George Research, where he remains today.

He holds over 54 patents, is active in the fiber optic sensor community, and has authored a number of books on the subject. He is a Fellow of OSA, SPIE, IEEE, and the LEOS. In 2009, he received OSA’s David Richardson Medal “for developments associated with fiber optic sensor technology including measurement of rotation, acoustics, pressure, temperature, and strain as well as contributions to the field of fiber optic smart structures.”