M. Saif Islam: The 2024 SPIE Aden and Marjorie Meinel Technology Achievement Award
M. Saif Islam, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, Davis, and director of the university’s Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society and Banatao Institute, is widely recognized for his significant technical, entrepreneurial, and academic contributions that have advanced semiconductor electronic and photonic devices. Among other achievements, his research has offered new insights into the characteristics of low-dimensional materials, providing new capabilities for incorporating them into sensors, detectors, transistors, flexible multifunctional optoelectronics, and energy-conversion systems. His contribution to the field of highly sensitive sensors and ultrafast and efficient photodetectors is particularly noteworthy. Notably, his research work and inventions encompass fundamental science as well as real-life product development. In addition to his impactful research on photon-trapping photodetectors and nanowire-based field ionization sensors, he is actively involved in the development and implementation of novel materials and devices, holding 42 US and international patents as inventor or co-inventor. In 2014, Islam was inducted as a National Academy of Inventors Fellow for demonstrating “a highly prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on the quality of life, economic development, and welfare of society.”
An SPIE Fellow, Islam contributes to the Society’s wider community as a participant on conference program committees, and as a conference chair and co-chair, editor, and author. A presence at SPIE conferences since 1999, he’ll be presenting at both the LASE and BiOS conferences at SPIE Photonics West 2024. In 2023, Islam had papers published in both Advanced Photonics Nexus and the Journal of Nanophotonics. He’s chaired several conferences, including Nanosensing: Materials and Devices; Nanostructure Integration Techniques for Manufacturable Devices, Circuits, and Systems: Interfaces, Interconnects, and Nanosystems; and Nanophotonics for Communication: Materials, Devices, and Systems.
“Since his earliest successes, Saif has sustained his work in nanosensors, nanoscale photonics, and electronics and has continued to make significant contributions to the nano-engineering of complex devices and systems,” notes UCLA professor of electrical engineering and bioengineering Aydogan Ozcan. “He was also remarkably tenacious and creative in pursuing the problem of designing silicon ultrafast photodetectors for extremely high data-transmission rates. Across his career, his research has contributed to original ideas and innovations that resulted in several very impactful publications and patents, and it is clearly evident that Saif has demonstrated outstanding technical accomplishments in optics, photonics engineering, and imaging/sensing. And, in addition to being an internationally recognized leader in his areas of research, I also appreciate that his service to the scientific community is outstanding in every single aspect.”
Meet the other 2024 SPIE Society Award recipients.
Read more about M. Saif Islam and the Aden and Marjorie Meinel Technology Achievement Award.
