Electrical engineer Marko Loncar wins prestigious NSF CAREER Award

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - January 29, 2009 - Marko Lončar, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering in the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), has won a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The honor is considered one of the most prestigious for up-and-coming researchers in science and engineering.

Marko Lončar's current research focuses on phenomena resulting from the interaction of light and matter on a nano-scale level. These phenomena include efficient light confinement and emission within photonic crystals, light generation in engineered semiconductors, and manipulation of nano-scale objects using guided waves.

He is interested in development of functional and reconfigurable nano-photonic devices and their integration into systems that can be used for optical communication and optical signal processiong, life sciences and quantum optics.

The $400,000 CAREER Award will support Lončar's work on Nanoscale Opto-Mechanical Systems.

Lončar received his undergraduate degree at the University of Belgrade (Serbia) and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees at the California Institute of Technology, all in electrical engineering. He has co-authored more than 40 journal articles and has given more than 30 invited talks and seminars. His work on photonic crystal devices was published in a book Optical Microcavities (World Scientific, 2004).

His past awards include: Outstanding Performer Award (DARPA University Optocenters, 2003); Graduate Student Silver Award (Material Research Society, 2002); C. Powel Fellowship (California Institute of Technology, 1997-1998); Valedictorian Faculty of Electrical Engineering (University of Belgrade, 1997); and a Fellowship from the Foundation for Development of Science and Art (Ministry of Science and Technology, Republic of Serbia 1990-1997).

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About the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program
The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is a Foundation-wide activity that offers the National Science Foundation's most prestigious awards in support of the early career-development activities of those teacher-scholars who most effectively integrate research and education within the context of the mission of their organization. Such activities should build a firm foundation for a lifetime of integrated contributions to research and education. NSF encourages submission of CAREER proposals from junior faculty members at all CAREER-eligible organizations and especially encourages women, members of underrepresented minority groups, and persons with disabilities to apply.