Brief CV
Alexandra Boltasseva
Ron And Dotty Garvin Tonjes Distinguished Professor
of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Courtesy Appointment in Materials Engineering
Purdue University
1205 West State Street, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA 47907-2057
Phone: +1 765 494 0301 Email: aeb@purdue.edu
Summary
Prof. Boltasseva’s team specializes in nano- and quantum photonics, plasmonics, optical metamaterials, optical materials and nanofabrication. The central theme of Boltasseva’s research is to find new ways for realization of nanophotonic devices - from material growth to advanced designs and device demonstrations. Prof. Boltasseva’s team aims at developing new platforms to unlock properties of nanophotonic structures in previously unavailable designs and wavelength regimes and to enable new generations of low-loss, tunable, reconfigurable, semiconductor-compatible devices for applications in on-chip circuitry, information processing, data recording/storage, sensing, medical imaging and therapy, energy conversion, and quantum information technologies.
Education
| 1999 | B.S. Applied Physics & Mathematics, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Russia (summa cum laude) |
| 2000 | M.S. Applied Physics & Mathematics, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Russia (summa cum laude) |
| 2004 | Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, Research Center COM, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark |
Professional Career
| Ron and Dotty Garvin Tonjes Distingushed Professor of ECE | 08/2023 - present |
| Ron and Dotty Garvin Tonjes Professor of ECE | 08/2020 - 08/2023 |
| Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, courtesy appointment, Purdue | 10/2018 - present |
| Professor of ECE, Purdue University | 08/2016 - present |
| Associate Prof. (tenured) of ECE, Purdue University | 08/2013 - 07/2016 |
| Adjunct Lecturer, DTU Fotonik, Technical University of Denmark | 07/2016 - present |
| Adjunct Associate Professor, DTU Fotonik, Technical University of Denmark | 10/2011 - 06/2016 |
| Assistant Prof. (tenure track) at ECE, Purdue University | 09/2008 - 08/2013 |
| Guest Prof. at SAOT, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany | 11/2009 - 12/2012 |
| Associate Prof. (tenured) at DTU Fotonik, Technical University of Denmark | 07/2008 - 08/2010 |
| Assistant Professor at COM⚫DTU, Technical University of Denmark | 2007 - 2008 |
| Post. Doc. at COM⚫DTU, Technical University of Denmark | 2005 - 2007 |
| Research Scientist at Alight Technologies A/S, Denmark | 2004 - 2005 |
| Research Assistant at Micro Managed Photons A/S, Denmark | 2002 - 2004 |
| Research Assistant (M.S. research) at P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia | 1998 - 2000 |
Professional Recognitions, Honors, and Awards
| 2023 | MRS Meeting Chair, Materials Research Society 2023 Fall Meeting |
| 2021 | Highly Cited Researcher (Cross-Field), Web of Science Researcher |
| 2021 | Fellow of the MRS – Materials Research Society |
| 2020 | Fellow of National Academy of Inventors (NAI) |
| 2020 | Ron and Dotty Garvin Tonjes Named Professor of ECE, Purdue University |
| 2020 | Fellow of the IEEE - the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers |
| 2019 | Inaugural Discovery Park Fellow, Purdue University |
| 2018 | Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientistsin Physical Sciences and Engineering Finalist |
| 2017 | Fellow of the SPIE - International Society for Optical Engineers |
| 2016 | Editor-in-Chief, Optical Society of America (OSA)'s Optical Materials Express (2016 - present) |
| 2015 | Senior member of the SPIE - International Society for Optical Engineers |
| 2015 | National Academy of Engineering (NAE) U.S. Frontiers of Engineering (FOE) Symposium Invited Speaker, September 9-11, 2015, National Academies' Beckman Center in Irvine, California, USA |
| 2015 | Senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) |
| 2015 | Fellow of the Optical Society of America (OSA) |
| 2014 | Selected to Purdue Innovator Hall of Fame, Purdue Research Foundation, Purdue University |
| 2014 | Inaugural "DANIELA PUCCI" prize at NanoPlasm Conference, June 16-20, 2014, Cetraro, Italy |
| 2014 | Elected to Materials Research Society Board of Directors (two-year term 2014-2016) |
| 2014 | University Faculty Scholar, College of Engineering, Purdue University (awarded to faculty 'on an accelerated path toward academic distinction' with additional funding for research) |
| 2013 | Materials Research Society (MRS) Outstanding Young Investigator Award (awarded annually to one young scientist for 'interdisciplinary scientific work in materials research and exceptional promise as a developing leader in the materials area') |
| 2013 | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Photonics Society Young Investigator Award (awarded annually to an individual who has made outstanding technical contributions to photonics prior to his or her 35th birthday) |
| 2012 | National Academy of Engineering (NAE) U.S. Frontiers of Engineering (FOE) Symposium participant, September 13-15, 2012, GM Technical Center, Warren, Michigan, USA (invitation-only symposium gathering 78 outstanding engineers under the age of 45) |
| 2012 | Purdue College of Engineering Early Career Research Award (for 'early excellence with clear potential for future preeminence in research') |
| 2011 | MIT Technology Review TR35 Award (Technology Review magazine published by MIT 'honors 35 innovators under 35 each year whose work promises to change the world') |
| 2010 | The Acorn Award: Seed for Success, Purdue (PI and co-PIs garnering $1 million or more in research grants, with Prof. Shalaev and Prof. Narimanov) |
| 2009 | Erlangen Graduate School in Advanced Optical Technologies (SAOT) Young Researcher Award in Advanced Optical Technologies, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany ('awarded annually to an outstanding young scientist in the field of optics and photonics', prize money EUR 100,000 to be used freely for establishing collaborative activities and research links to SAOT) |
| 2009 | Chicago Alumni New Faculty Award, Purdue faculty start-up package |
| 2008 | Young Researcher Participant, 58th Meeting of Nobel Prize Winners in Physics, Council for the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings, Lindau, Germany (Nomination by the Danish Research Council, chosen in closed competition among young scientists worldwide, 1 out of total 2 participants from Denmark) |
| 2008 | "Ung Eliteforskerpris": Young Elite-Researcher Award from the Danish Councils for Independent Research, Denmark (awarded annually to only 20 scientists across all disciplines, including liberal arts) |
| 2006 | "UBVAs forfatterlegat": Danish Confederation of Professional Associations prize for PhD dissertation |
| 2004 | "Talent Project" grant from the Danish Technical Research Council, Denmark (independent postdoc grant to establish own activities) |
| 1999 | Lenin's scholarship for academic excellence, Russia (the highest award for academic excellence) |
| 1996- 1999 | Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology scholarships for academic excellence, Russia |
| 1993, 1994 | Winner of High-School Physics Olympics of Chuvash Republic, Russia |
| 1993 | Honor Award for the best experimental work at All-Russian Physics Olympics, Russia |
Publication Summary
8 invited book chapters, over 195 research papers in refereed journals. Citations (here and below according to Google Scholar): over 22,000 citations in total, five papers with over 1000 citations, h-index 69. According to Web of Science (WoS), 14 papers are Highly Cited in the Field, of which 10 are in the field of physics and 4 are in materials science. According to the Stanford list of top 2% most-cited researchrs in all fields of science, A. Boltasseva has the career ranking of 50 in the Optics category (out of 64,044 scientists included in this category).
NOTE: Papers marked as Highly Cited in the Field by (WoS) "are the top one percent in each of the 22 subject areas per year. Highly Cited Papers are considered to be indicators of scientific excellence and top performance and can be used to benchmark research performance against field baselines worldwide" (follow link). To be selected as highly cited, the paper should receive enough citations to place it in the top 1% of the related broader academic field (ex. Physics/Material Science).
Professional Society Activities and Affiliations
- National Academy of Inventors (NAI), Fellow (2020)
- The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers IEEE, Fellow (2020)
- International Society for Optical Engineers SPIE, Fellow (2017)
- Materials Research Society, MRS Congressional Visits Day participant, United States Congress, Washington DC
- Optical Society of America OSA Fellow (2015)
- Elected member of the Materials Research Society, MRS Board of Directors (2014-2016)
- Senior member, IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (2015)
- Materials Research Society, MRS Congressional Visits Day participant, United States Congress, Washington, DC (October 2014)
- Optical Society of America OSA Student chapter advisor (2014-present), Purdue
- SPIE, International Society for Optical Engineers Student chapter advisor (2014-present), Purdue
- Member of the Advisory Network, Optical Society of America OSA (since 2011)
- Member, Optical Society of America OSA (since 2009), senior member (since 2011)
- Member, SPIE, International Society for Optical Engineers (since 2008), senior member (since 2015)
- Materials Research Society, MRS member (since 2005)
- Member Danish Optical Society, DOPS (2007-2009)
- Member, Network for Women in Physics in Denmark, KIF (2005-2010)
- Member, Nordic Network for Women in Physics, NorWiP (2005-2010)