Workshop on Emerging Trends in Semiconductor Technology

Kemper E. Lewis, PhD, MBA, and dean of UB’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, is a global leader in engineering design, system optimization and advanced manufacturing. Prior to being named dean, Lewis served as chair of UB's Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, where he was also the Moog Professor of Innovation.

Lewis is also the director of UB’s Community of Excellence in Sustainable Manufacturing and Advanced Robotic Technologies (SMART), an initiative that harnesses the strengths of faculty across the university to develop advanced manufacturing and design processes including autonomy, intelligence and materials technologies.

He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and has served on the National Academies Panel on Benchmarking the Research Competitiveness of the United States in Mechanical Engineering. He has published over 200 refereed journal articles and conference proceedings and has been principal or co-principal investigator on grants totaling more than $33 million.

Active in the profession, Lewis chaired ASME’s Mechanical Engineering Department Head Executive Committee. He has received numerous awards in recognition of his teaching and research excellence from several professional societies, including ASME, the Society of Automotive Engineers, the American Society for Engineering Education, and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Lewis joined UB in 1996. He earned a BS in mechanical engineering and a BA in mathematics from Duke University, his MS and PhD in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech, and an MBA from UB.

Jonathan Bird joined the faculty of the UB Department of Electrical Engineering as Professor in Fall 2004. Prior to this, he obtained his BSc (First-Class Honors) and PhD degrees in Physics from the University of Sussex (United Kingdom), in 1986 and 1990, respectively. He was a JSPS visiting fellow at the University of Tsukuba (Japan) from 1991 - 1992, after which he joined the Frontier Research Program of the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN, also in Japan). In 1997, he was appointed as Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Arizona State University, where he spent seven years before joining UB. Prof. Bird's research is in the area of nanoelectronics. He is the co-author of nearly 300 peer reviewed publications as well as of undergraduate and graduate textbooks.

Venu Govindaraju, VP for Research and Economic Development and SUNY Distinguished Professor, is also the founding director of the Center for Unified Biometrics and Sensors of Computer Science and Engineering at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo. He received his Bachelor’s degree with honors from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur in 1986, and his Ph.D. from SUNY Buffalo in 1992.

A recognized authority in the field of Pattern Recognition, Govindaraju has received peer honors such as the IAPR/ICDAR Outstanding Achievements (2015), Distinguished Alumnus Award from IIT Kharagpur (2014), the IEEE Technical Achievement Award (2010), MIT Global Indus Technovator Award (2004), and fellowships from the major professional societies such as AAAS, ACM, IAPR, IEEE, and the SPIE. He is a member of the National Academy of Inventors (2015).

Govindaraju is credited with major conceptual and practical advances in this area with six books and over 425 refereed publications. He has served on the editorial boards of several premier journals including the most prestigious IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence and has been the Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Biometrics Council Compendium. Recently he served as the president of the IEEE Biometrics Council positioning it for consideration of a full fledged IEEE Technical Society.

Govindaraju has graduated 37 doctoral students as their major advisor and was recently awarded the University at Buffalo’s “Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring Award (2017)”. He has given over a hundred invited talks, keynotes, plenaries and seminars, at prestigious venues including influential think tanks such as the Science and Technology Investment committee of the National Academy of Sciences.

Govindaraju has had active and continuous sponsorship from the National Science Foundation for the past 15 years (2002-17) and a career total of nearly $70M of sponsored funding as a Principal or Co-Principal Investigator from several federal and state agencies and industry. His annual research expenditures are consistently over $1.5M, making him a top performer at UB.

Govindaraju is the Chief Research Officer at UB with an annual operating budget of $35M and over 100 staff members reporting to the Office of the Vice President of Research and Economic Development. He sits on the President’s cabinet as well as the Provost’s cabinet and is responsible for managing UB’s research enterprise, including supporting scholarly excellence, creating collaborations, ensuring compliance in a regulatory environment, and oversees programs that contribute to regional job growth and a diversified economy in the Western New York region.

Professor Sellers research focuses on the development and investigation of novel quantum-engineered material and devices for next generation photovoltaics. Specific programs involve hot carrier dynamics in III-V and perovskite systems, defect formation and stability of thin-film CIGS and perovskites solar cells, as well as their suitability for deep space power applications.

Joey Luther is a senior research fellow within the Materials, Chemical, and Computational Science directorate at NREL. He began his research career studying III-V light-emitting diodes and multijunction solar cells at North Carolina State University, and then moved to NREL during his graduate studies to study defects within various photovoltaic technologies. Under the direction of Arthur Nozik, while working on his doctorate through the Colorado School of Mines, he developed solar cells from colloidal nanocrystals, which exploit a phenomenon where multiple excitons are generated and harvested per incident photon. Luther then became a postdoctoral scholar in Paul Alivisatos’ group at the University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. In 2009, he rejoined NREL as a senior research scientist.

Luther’s research interests focus on developing clean energy technologies through the frontiers of nanoscience and low-cost advanced processing. His research is funded by Basic Energy Sciences Energy Frontier Research Centers, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Office, the U.S. Department of Defense, strategic partnerships with industry, and NASA.

Wanyi Nie is interested in electronic devices for energy conversion, photon sensing and information processing. She focuses on developing novel semiconductors, understanding their physical properties tied to the material structures. Next, her group will find a best way of using the materials. 

Professor Singisetti's research group explores novel electronic devices for high speed circuits, low power logic, and next generation power electronics applications. Please explore more about the research, people and facilities in the group going through the side links, and feel free to contact us if you have any questions about the group.

Rongming Chu is a professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in Penn State University’s College of Engineering. His research focuses on electronic materials and devices; integrated circuits and systems; and power and energy systems. 

Professor Seo's research focuses on the development of next generation flexible electronics and optoelectronics; novel nano/micro fabrication processes for the future flexible and stretchable electronics; development and heterogeneous integration of novel low-dimension or ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors

As dimensions of materials cross over fundamental length scales, new physics emerge. We are interested in understanding fundamental spin and magnetic phenomena in materials at reduced dimensions, such as 2D thin films, 1D nanowires and 0D nanocrystals. We grow these materials using both chemical solution phase synthesis, and physical and chemical vapor deposition techniques. Doping, alloying and heterostructures are exploited to modify the properties of the host materials. We use magnetic, charge transport and magneto-optical probes to study the physical properties of these materials.  Presently, the topics of our research include: studying magnetism in atomically thin layers; developing novel 2D magnets and their heterostructures; developing novel magnetic nanoparticles for biomedical applications such as imaging and magnetic hyperthermia.

We are also interested in the design and development of novel materials for energy applications. Our experimental work is guided by first principles theory and materials informatics. Presently our project is focused on developing chalcogenide perovskites, an emerging class of unconventional ionic

Guo-Xing Miao is an Associate Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and is cross-appointed to the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo. Professor Miao's research interests lie in spintronics, which use precise electron spin manipulation for information processing. His work places a strong emphasis on nanodevices established on newly emerging spin platforms, such as synthetic diamonds and topological insulators, where information can be processed coherently on the quantum level, rather than digitally on the classical level. The interwined transport of electrons, spins and ions in solid-state devices establishes the forefront for developing semiconductor compatible materials platforms ready for chip integration.

Huamin Li received his BS degree from the College of Physics and Electronics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China, in 2007, his MS degree from the College of Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Suwon, Korea, in 2010, and his PhD degree in the Department of Nano Science and Technology, SKKU, Suwon, Korea, in 2013. His PhD research focused on 2D electronics and optoelectronics. Subsequently, he worked as a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Notre Dame. His postdoctoral work included the development of low-voltage and steep subthreshold swing (SS) components for beyond-CMOS electronic systems using low-dimensional materials. To date, his research results have been included in one book chapter (2013), published in Nature Communications (2015), Scientific Reports (2014), IEEE Transaction on Electron Devices (2009-2012) etc., presented in IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM, 2009, 2011-2013), and filed five US and Korean patents with the collaboration of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. In 2012, he received Chinese Government Award for outstanding self-financed students abroad by China Scholarship Council.

Prof. T. Venkatesan is currently a Professor of Physics and ECE at University of Oklahoma (OU), and Scientific affiliate at NIST Gaithersburg. He is also the founding Director of the Center of Optimal Materials for Emerging Technologies (COMET) at OU. Prior to this he was Director of the Nano Institute at the National University of Singapore (NUSNNI) where he was a Professor of ECE, Physics, MSE and NGS. He wore various hats at Bell Labs and Bellcore before becoming a Professor at University of Maryland.

As the inventor of the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) process, he has over 800 papers and 34 patents and is globally among the top one hundred physicists (ranked at 66 in 2000) in terms of his citations (Over 54,300 with a hirsch Index of 118- Google Scholar). He has graduated over 56 PhDs, 35 Post Docs and over 35 undergraduates. He is also the founder and Chairman of Neocera, and Neocera Magma, companies specializing in PLD and magnetic field imaging systems and co-founder of Blue Wave Semiconductors. He recently helped launch two healthcare companies in Singapore, Cellivate and Breathonix. Close to 12 of the researchers (PhD students and Post Docs) under him have become entrepreneurs starting over 25 different commercial enterprises.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), National Academy of Inventors (USA), Singapore National Academy of Science, Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Academy, World Innovation Foundation, American Physical Society (APS), Materials Research Society (MRS), Academician of the Asia Pacific Academy of Materials, winner of the Bellcore Award of excellence, George E. Pake Prize awarded by APS (2012), Distinguished Lectureship on the Applications of Physics Award- APS (2020), President’s gold medal of the Institute of Physics, Singapore, Guest Professor at Tsinghua University, past member of the Physics Policy Committee (Washington DC), the Board of Visitors at UMD and the Chairman, Forum of Industry and Applications of Physics at APS. He was awarded the outstanding alumnus award from two Indian Institute of Technologies- Kanpur (2015) and Kharagpur (2016), India.

His research interests are in Physics and applications of inorganic films and their heterostructures (oxides in particular). He is interested in the electronic, magnetic, and optical properties of materials and is interested in applying them to the field of memristors (neuromorphic circuits), meta-surfaces, plasmonics, and quantum qubits and sensors. He is also interested in using surfaces to control cellular growth, molecular patterns in breath profile to diagnose diseases and the use of high-resolution mass spectrometers in in-operando catalysis processes.

Steve May, PhD is a professor of Materials Science and Engineering, having joined the department in 2009. He received a BS in Engineering Science and Mechanics from Penn State University and a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Northwestern University. Following his doctorate, he was a postdoctoral researcher at Argonne National Laboratory from 2007-2009 in the Materials Science Division. He has received the NSF CAREER award, an ARO Young Investigator Award, the Ross Coffin Purdy Award from the American Ceramic Society, and the Bradley Stoughton Award for Young Teachers from ASM International. His research focuses on synthesis and characterization of thin films and heterostructures, with an emphasis on magnetic, electronic, and optical properties and the use of scattering techniques to probe interfacial properties.

Ganapathy's experimental research group studies physical properties of low dimensional condensed matter systems. They use advanced nanofabrication techniques combined with controlled sample growth to design and develop sub-micron devices. These devices will be used to explore microscopic mechanisms that influence and/or dictate the fundamental physical properties at the nanometer scale level.

His group explores electron transport in oxide nanowire FETs, nanotubes, 2D semiconductors, and other atomic layers under extreme physical conditions: ultra low temperatures (10 mK), high magnetic fields (16 T) and a.c. electric fields (~GHz). Some of his physics interests include metal-insulator transitions, noise spectroscopy near phase transitions, superconductor-insulator transition, microwave spectroscopy to study collective phases in 2D materials etc. 

Christiana Honsberg joined the electrical engineering faculty in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering in 2008. She received her bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees from University of Delaware in 1986, 1989, and 1992, respectively, all in electrical engineering. Before joining the ASU faculty, Honsberg was an associate professor and director for the high performance solar power program at the University of Delaware. She currently holds one patent in the U.S., Japan, and Europe; three patents are pending.

She is the Vice-Dean, Research of the Faculty of Engineering, the University Research Chair in Photonic Devices for Energy and a Professor at the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science with a cross-appointment in the Department of Physics at the University of Ottawa. She received the BSc, MSc, and PhD degrees in physics from the University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, in 1996, 1998, and 2002, respectively. She has made pioneering contributions to the experimental physics of quantum dots marked by two landmark papers in Science. She gained extensive experience in the design and fabrication of group III-V semiconductor devices while at the National Research Council Canada, Nortel Networks and then Bookham (now Lumentum). Cost reduction strategies and liaison with remote fabrication facilities strongly feature in her industry experience.

Professor Hinzer joined the University of Ottawa in 2007 where she founded the SUNLAB, the premier Canadian modelling and characterization laboratory for next generation multi-junction solar devices and concentrator systems. Professor Hinzer’s research involves developing new ways to harness the sun’s energy. From 2007 to 2017, she was the Tier II Canada Research Chair in Photonic Nanostructures and Integrated Devices. In 2010, she was the recipient of the Inaugural Canadian Energy Award with industry partner Morgan Solar for the development of more efficient solar panels. In 2015, she received the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation Early Researcher Award for her contributions to the fields of photonic devices and photovoltaic systems and in 2016, she was the recipient of the University of Ottawa Young Researcher Award. She is a member of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists of the Royal Society of Canada and an IEEE senior member. Professor Hinzer is the principal investigator of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Collaborative Research and Training Experience Program titled “Training in Optoelectronics for Power: from Science and Engineering to Technology” (NSERC CREATE TOP-SET), a multi-disciplinary training program involving three universities and aiming to train over 100 students in seven years.

Professor Hinzer is an editor of the IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics. She has published over 170 refereed papers, trained over 150 highly-qualified personnel and her laboratory has spun-off three Canadian companies in the energy sector. Her research interests include new materials, high efficiency light sources and light detectors, solar cells, solar modules, new electrical grid architectures and voltage converters.

Professor Wodo's research topics include informatics and high performance computing for materials design and manufacturing.

Professor Srabanti Chowdhury, affiliated with the Electrical Engineering department and (by courtesy) Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University, specializes in the wideband gap (WBG) and ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) materials and device engineering. Her research focuses on energy-efficient system architecture for power and RF applications, particularly emphasizing thermal management. She earned her M.S. in June 2008 and Ph.D. in December 2010 in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara. In recognition of her outstanding work on diamond integration with GaN and SiC, resulting in very low thermal boundary resistances for thermal management, Prof. Chowdhury received the 2023 Technical Excellence Award from the Semiconductor Research Society (SRC).
Her achievements also include the 2020 Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship in Physics and the 2016 Young Scientist Award at the International Symposium on Compound Semiconductors (ISCS). Earlier in her career, she was honored with the DARPA Young Faculty Award, NSF CAREER Award, and AFOSR Young Investigator Program (YIP), all in 2015.
Prof. Chowdhury's significant contributions to the field encompass 6 book chapters, 120 journal papers, 150 conference presentations, and 26 issued patents. Actively engaged in IEEE conference committees, including IRPS and VLSI Symposium, she serves on the executive committee of IEDM. Since 2021, she has been a senior fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy at Stanford. Notably, she became an IEEE fellow in the batch of 2024 for her contributions to wide bandgap semiconductor devices and technology.

Dr. Barton’s RF Power and Analog Laboratory investigates engineering challenges related to RF and microwave active circuit design, specifically in RF front-ends for communications, imaging, and telemetry applications in both commercial and defense spaces. The growing importance of these areas is tied to rising costs of energy and an interest in global energy consumption reduction, underscoring the need for development of energy-efficient systems. A major driving application is next-generation 5G radio, which has motivated increased interest in MIMO systems that also translates to defense applications such as phased array systems. Dr. Barton's research has concentrated on three primary areas: (1) energy-efficient power amplifier (PA) design, (2) analog techniques for signal generation and linearization, and (3) integrated PA sensing and adaptation techniques. The combination of these technologies can result in efficient 'smart' transmitters able to adapt to environmental changes.

Professor Mazumder's research group focuses on understanding the atomic-level structural chemistry using atom probe tomography (APT). The material features the group probes include direct 3D visualization of atoms within the analyzed material structures, accurate stoichiometry, confident detection/quantification of impurity or trace elements, small precipitates within the buried hetero-structures and interfacial roughness/abruptness. The unique strength of the group involves employing machine learning (ML) on APT data to extract patterns and link it to known material features. This enables predicting different materials’ properties beyond the capabilities of conventional APT analysis. The rare combination of APT–ML in the group is helping the materials science community to understand and develop wide range of novel material systems including wide bandgap semiconductors, ceramics, quantum materials and many more.