René Paul Salathé is Professor em. at EPFL since 2009. He received the Ph.D., and Habilitation (Privatdozent) degrees in 1974, and 1979, respectively, from the University of Bern. During 1977-78 he spent a year at Bell Telephone Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ, working in the field of integrated optics. From 1984-89 he worked at the R&D center of the Swiss PTT as head of the division "Material Testing and Technology". He was appointed full professor of Applied Optics at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in 1989. He directed the Institute of Applied Optics and later on the Microengineering Department. During the winter semester 1998/99 he was on a sabbatical leave at the Center for Biological and Medical Engineering at the University of Texas in Austin. From 2007-08 he served as director of the newly formed “Institut de Microtechnique“ (IMT) within the Faculty of Engineering Sciences and Techniques at EPFL. After his retirement in 2009 he continued working as an expert member of the Swiss Innovation Agency (KTI/CTI), a member of the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen, and as a consultant for private companies. 
The results of his research activities have been published in more than 250 scientific contributions and 37 PhD theses at EPFL. Several start-up companies have been founded based on patents elaborated in his laboratory and/or by his PhD students.