Allan Offenberger is Professor Emeritus of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of Alberta. He received his B.A.Sc. and M.A.Sc. degrees (1962, 1963) from the University of British Columbia and Ph.D. degree (1968) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research program for more than 40 years was focused on the development of high power lasers and their application to inertial fusion energy research. He has published extensively and given many invited talks at international conferences, universities, government and industrial laboratories as well as to service and other non-governmental organizations in Asia, Europe and North America.
He is a Past President of the Canadian Association of Physicists and has served on many scientific advisory & research grant committees and boards, as a consultant to university, government & industrial institutions and, as a reviewer for research proposals, publications, university appointments & promotions.
Allan has been a guest professor and consultant at, among others: UK Atomic Energy Agency-Culham Laboratory; University of California-Los Alamos National Laboratory; Oxford University-Rutherford Appleton Laboratory; University of California-Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and; Osaka University-Institute of Laser Engineering (major labs for fusion energy R&D). This involvement has led to the Alberta/Canada Fusion Energy initiative – to build a national capability in this important future energy technology based on strong working linkages with international centres.