Engineer honored for pioneering graphene research

Alexander A. Balandin, a professor of electrical engineering at the University of California, Riverside's Bourns College of Engineering, has been elected a fellow of the Materials Research Society (MRS). He is the first fellow from UC Riverside.

The Materials Research Society recognizes as fellows outstanding members whose sustained and distinguished contributions to the advancement of materials research are internationally recognized. Fellow is a lifetime appointment. The number of new fellows selected each year is capped at 0.2 percent of Materials Research Society membership.

Balandin, who is also the founding chair of the materials science and engineering program at UC Riverside, was recognized "for pioneering contributions on the thermal properties of graphene and low-dimensional materials; seminal contributions to the study of quantum confinement effects in nanostructures; and leadership in materials education."

He will be honored during the Materials Research Society spring meeting from April 21 to 23 in San Francisco. The recognition comes a year after Balandin was the recipient of the MRS Medal, which recognizes an exceptional achievement in materials research in the past 10 years.

Balandin pioneered the graphene thermal and phonon engineering fields, which resulted in major advances in understanding the thermal properties of low-dimensional materials, physics of phonons, and led to development of practical applications of graphene in heat removal and thermal management. He is also being recognized for his investigation of spatial confinement effects in quantum dots and nanowires.

Practical applications of Balandin's work include better heat removal from computers and cell phones, higher efficiency solar cells, thermoelectric energy generators and batteries.

Provided by University of California - Riverside