In May, 2000, the Board of Trustees approved The Rensselaer Plan, which, among other goals, called for the formation of research “constellations” in focus areas within the wider scope of biotechnology and information technology. Since then, the Institute has been searching for researchers to fill these teams to do research on the “cutting edge” of these fields. A total of six areas have been identified, and the administration is reporting that they have filled the “Future Chips” constellation within the IT group.
“We will follow this process…within each focal area, assemble a critical mass of people who create ‘constellations’ of world-class faculty, staff, and students,” reads The Plan. The term “constellation” is derived from a group of “rising star” faculty.
“We’re looking forward to the completion of this constellation, facilitating our research programs in this particular area,” said Provost G.P. “Bud” Peterson.
Shawn-Yu Lin and Christian M. Wetzel will join Fred Schubert, who was hired as the chair of the group and has been working with a team of professors and both doctoral and post-doctoral students in the research areas within the Future Chips concentration. According to the website for the project, the committee is “performing leading-edge research in the field of compound semiconductor materials and devices to bring about leap-frog advances in device technology.” Their work is supported by a variety of outside sources, including the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the National Science Foundation.
Lin is a world-leader in photonics research, and currently heads the Sandia National Laboratories’ research and development team working on the development of photonic crystal devices, and has in the past led a multi-laboratory initiative in nano-structural photonics. Lin will be primarily working with the New York State supported Focus Center for Interconnects and the Center for Broadband Data Transport Science and Technology. The latter is a partnership between RPI and IBM Corporation. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Princeton University in 1992, and has a M.S. and B.S. in Physics.
Wetzel’s research accomplishments primarily rest in the area of optoelectronic device physics. His career thus far has not developed a funded research program, but the Provost’s office notes that he has published over 100 journal and conference articles, and has received letters of commendation from universities around the world. He is, therefore, being hired on his potential to exceed in these areas. Wetzel received his Ph.D. in Physics from the Technical University of Munich in 1993, and did post-doctoral research at the University of California at Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Meijo University.
