Professor Paul Berger promoted to IEEE Fellow

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Professor Paul Berger
Paul Berger, professor of electrical and computer engineering and physics, has been promoted to Fellow status in the IEEE, one of the most prestigious honors bestowed by the organization. Berger was promoted for “contributions to the understanding, development, and fabrication of silicon-based resonant interband tunneling devices and circuits.” In addition, his seminal work on the surface kinetics of highly strained epitaxial layers lead to advancements in quantum dot lasers.

The IEEE grade of Fellow recognizes unusual distinction in the profession and is conferred only by invitation of the Board of Directors upon a person with an extraordinary record of accomplishments in IEEE’s designated fields of interest. Only 321 individuals worldwide have been elevated to IEEE Fellow for 2011. IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional association, is dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. Through its 385,000 members in 160 countries, the association is a leading authority on a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power and consumer electronics.

Along with his research group, Prof. Berger is working in conjunction with researchers at the Naval Research Laboratory (Thompson) and Rochester Institute of Technology (Rommel) to develop Si-based resonant interband tunneling diodes (RITD). These RITDs, once integrated with a Si-based transistor technology, could enhance computer circuit speed, reduce number of devices and circuit complexity and lower power consumption. Prof. Berger is also working on quantum dot nanoswitches and tunneling FETs for circuits to operate below 0.5 volt; passive millimeter-wave imaging cameras for airport security to detect concealed weapons and air safety for sight through dense fog/rain; manufacturable and affordable biosensors for clinical in vivo protein sensing of organ transplant rejection; conjugated polymers for electronics and optoelectronics applications; and molecular electronics with quantum functional circuit elements for low-power SmartCards, essentially plastic computers built on a credit card.

Prof. Berger has published over 90 refereed scientific publications, and been awarded 14 patents with six more pending. Presently, Prof. Berger is co-founding a start-up company to advance plastic solar cell technologies, to reduce manufacturing costs while concurrently raising efficiency and increasing longevity.

Prof. Berger is the recipient of numerous awards including the 2009 Ohio State College of Engineering’s Faculty Diversity Excellence Award, the 2006 Lumley Research Award, the DARPA Excellence Award in 1998, and the National Science Foundation’s Early Career Development Award (CAREER) in 1996.