Bill Heffner is the associate director of the International Materials Institute for Glass at Lehigh University where he has been since 2004. In this position he facilitates international research exchanges promoting new functionality for glass and has been developing an e-based glass learning curriculum for the glass research community. He maintains a strong interest in developing low-cost, hands-on experiments for educators and young science enthusiasts. Prior to this current role, he spent more than 25 years in industrial optoelectronics research and development. He received his PhD in Physics from Stevens Institute of Technology and holds 6 patents on optical devices with 22 publications.