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Harvard Scientist Federico Capasso Wins IEEE Edison Medal
Prestigious Award Celebrates a Career of Meritorious Achievement
Cambridge, Mass. - December 18, 2003 - The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, one of the oldest and most prestigious technical professional associations in the world, has named Harvard University's Federico Capasso, Robert L. Wallace Professor of Applied Physics and Vinton Hayes Senior Research Fellow in Electrical Engineering, the recipient of their 2004 IEEE Edison Medal "for a career of highly creative and influential contributions to heterostructure devices and materials."
Capasso, best known for his groundbreaking work on nanostructured materials and devices and for his co-invention of the quantum cascade (QC) laser at Bell Labs, received the doctor of Physics degree, summa cum laude, from the University of Rome, Italy, in 1973 and after doing research in fiber optics at Fondazione Bordoni in Rome, joined Bell Labs in 1976. He joined Harvard's Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences in January 2003.
He has been widely honored for his interdisciplinary research in fields such as materials research, solid state physics, electronics, and photonics. His honors include membership in the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
"I am deeply honored by this award for the work I carried out during my time at Bell Labs. I am excited to have recently joined Harvard's Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences where I am pursuing new challenges in a thriving environment that fosters interdisciplinary work," says Capasso.
IEEE awards the Edison Medal, created by a group of Edison's friends and associates, to researchers whose careers reflect meritorious achievement in electrical science, electrical engineering or the electrical arts. In the words of the medal's founders, "The Edison Medal should, during the centuries to come, serve as an honorable incentive to scientists, engineers, and artisans to maintain by their works the high standard of accomplishment set by the illustrious man whose name and feats shall live while human intelligence continues to inhabit the world." Previous award winners include world-renowned technologists like Alexander Graham Bell and Nikola Tesla. 2004 will mark the 100th anniversary of the medal.
"Like Edison, Capasso's achievements are consistent with his sustained record of inventions which have led to new applications in diverse fields from telecommunications to environmental monitoring," says Venkatesh Narayanamurti, Dean of the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Dean of Physical Sciences at Harvard University.
The award, which consists of a gold medal, a small gold replica, certificate, and a cash honorarium of $10,000, will be presented at the annual IEEE Honors Ceremony on June 19, 2004 in Kansas City, MO.
About Harvard Engineering and Applied Sciences
The Harvard Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences is dedicated to the pursuit of interdisciplinary education and research in science and technology. By providing a rigorous scientific education while encouraging intellectual flexibility, the Division enables students to develop technical know-how within a liberal arts environment. More than a third of the senior faculty are members of the National Academies of Engineering or Sciences, the Royal Society (London), or the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. To learn more visit www.deas.harvard.edu.
About IEEE
The IEEE is the world's largest technical professional society with more than 360,000 members in approximately 150 countries. Through its members, the IEEE is a leading authority on areas ranging from aerospace, computers and telecommunications to biomedicine, electric power and consumer electronics. The IEEE produces 30 percent of the world's literature in the electrical and electronics engineering and computer science fields, and has developed more than 900 active industry standards. The organization also sponsors or cosponsors more than 300 international technical conferences each year. Additional information is available at www.ieee.org.
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