Professor Gu has a national and international reputation as a pioneering scientist/technologist. Under his inspiring leadership his group has made numerous breakthrough discoveries in applied optics, particularly in the context of bio-photonics and optical data storage systems that have profound implications for advances in biomedical instrumentation and information technology. He has an entrepreneurial spirit and has initiated three spin off companies and built industrial alliances that will bring his discoveries to commercial reality. In particular, his use of two photon confocal microscopy allied to his discoveries, to develop instrumentation for the non-invasive early identification of malignant lesions has lifesaving potential.