When I posted this (some messages below), I should have done so as a new message instead of making it part of an old thread. Perhaps that's why no comments so far? I am really interested in the board's thoughts on this idea...

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Question:

Can the "fourth terminal" be developed in a vacuum? is it just grunt work? in other words, can someone or a group of someones figure this fourth terminal problem out without any global knowledge of, or perspective on, the overall POET recipe?

If so...

Why not coordinate a contest between graduate students in photonics, the prize being X million shares of POET stock to whoever can solve this issue? It would allow POET even greater focus on the near-term InP opportunities. There could be scheduled progress evaluation meetings between the CTO and the individuals/groups signed on for this work. Heck, incentivize their host universities with potential share awards as well... 

If this could be done without any risk of IP theft, it could be a wonderful way to quicken the development timeline of POET and there could be other benefits in terms of attracting future engineering talent.