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Joost Vlassak Named McKay Professor of Materials Engineering
Cambridge, Mass. - June 1, 2007 - Joost J. Vlassak, a materials scientist whose study of thin films and coatings has fueled the ongoing shrinking of semiconductors and microelectromechanical systems, has been named Gordon McKay Professor of Materials Engineering in Harvard University's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, effective Jan. 1, 2007.
Vlassak, 41, was previously associate professor of materials engineering at Harvard.
"Professor Vlassak has been remarkable in helping the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences further bolster its presence in materials and mechanical engineering," says Venkatesh Narayanamurti, dean of Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and John A. and Elizabeth S. Armstrong Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences. "His work on studying thin films has implications ranging from improved integrated circuit design to the creation of next-generation micro-electromechanical devices to the development of new types of magnetic storage."
"He deserves particular praise for his dedicated involvement in the Research Experience for Undergraduates program," Narayanamurti says. "Through that program and other research opportunities, over the last six years, more than a dozen undergraduate students have spent their summers working in his lab. He is truly an inspiration for other faculty in the way he balances research with mentorship."
Working with materials similar in size to those found in advanced integrated circuits, Vlassak studies the mechanical and thermomechanical behavior of thin films and coatings. Small volumes of these materials, as found in electronics, behave quite differently than they do in bulk; Vlassak's research has helped understand the behavior of electronic and mechanical components as these devices have become ever-smaller.
Vlassak is also interested in environmental effects in fractures of multilayer structures. While much of his work is oriented toward microelectronics, thin films such as those Vlassak studies have a wide range of applications, including optical coatings, magnetic storage devices, actuators, and wear-resistant coatings on machining tools.
Vlassak's group is known for developing and employing specialized experimental techniques to study specific phenomena. Many of these methods have been adopted by researchers around the U.S. and in Europe.
Vlassak holds a degree in metallurgical engineering, awarded in 1989 by KU Leuven in Belgium, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in materials science from Stanford University, awarded in 1990 and 1994, respectively. Following a two-year postdoctoral appointment at Stanford, he worked at MicroUnity Systems Engineering, National Semiconductor Corporation, and at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center before joining Harvard as an assistant professor in 2000. In 2001 Vlassak received the National Science Foundation's Early Career Development Award, and he was named associate professor at Harvard in 2004.
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