Evan Lerner
Nader Engheta, H. Nedwill Ramsey Professor in Electrical and Systems Engineering, Bioengineering and Materials Science and Engineering, has been awarded the 2020 Isaac Newton Medal and Prize by the Institute of Physics (IOP). The IOP is the professional body and scholarly society for physics in the UK and Ireland.
Engheta has been recognized for ” groundbreaking innovation and transformative contributions to electromagnetic complex materials and nanoscale optics, and for pioneering development of the fields of near-zero-index metamaterials, and material-inspired analogue computation and optical nanocircuitry.”
“As one of the original pioneers of modern electromagnetic metamaterials, way ahead of his time, Engheta’s creativity has opened doors to numerous other new topics and innovations in nanophotonics and physics of light,” says the IOP, adding that “his ideas of ‘materials that become analogue computers’ connect nanoscience of materials to ultrafast analogue computation with impacts in various fields of science and technology.”
Last year, Engheta published a study in Science that demonstrated this new form of computation, detailing a metamaterial device that can solve complex equations using electromagnetic waves.
As the recipient of the 2020 Isaac Newton Medal and Prize, Engheta will receive £1,000 and a certificate, as well as an invitation to lecture at the Institute.
Engheta is also the recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, Max Born Award ,IEEE Nanotechnology Council Pioneer Award in Nanotechnology, and was named a “Beacon of the Photonics Industry.“