Session Q13: Industry Fellows

Pake Prize (2022): The scattering of neutrons, the structure of bacteria, and the creation of a world class company

My interest in the practical elements of scattering theory began many years ago in graduate school. By that time, many experiments had been reported on the scattering of protons and neutrons from the nuclei of a variety of elements over a broad range of energies. My thesis concerned the development of a theory that would describe the elastic scattering of neutrons from such nuclei by means of a so-called non-local model.

Following graduate school and a dearth of industrial jobs in nuclear physics, I began to explore the microbial world.  Potential threats of bioterrorism provided early government funding for research in such areas and resulted in the start of the first company to introduce instruments that incorporated lasers as sources for a variety of light scattering measurements.

With the support of some very brilliant colleagues and a few industrial contracts, we were able to derive structural features of bacterial cells from the measured angular variation of their scattered light. Such activities led to the formation of a few companies each of which failed for lack of any long term commercial applications. Eventually, a set of remarkable light scattering instruments addressing a very broad range of market applications resulted in today’s successful company.  This is the story of how such a company was created.   

Moving the Needle on Scale

The IBM Eagle Quantum ProcessorOne of our chief research thrusts at IBM Quantum is to improve the quality of our quantum processors. Advancing the state of the art as quickly as possible requires pursuing in parallel improvements in the scale (number of qubits), quality (coherence, gate fidelities, and quantum volume), and speed (circuit level operations per second, or CLOPS) of our devices. Our users now have access to our next step in scale, the first 127 qubit “Eagle” device IBM Washington. Integrating new technologies including superconducting vias and multi-layer wiring, this device has performance and uniformity markedly different from our previous generations of processor: in some cases better, in some cases we still have some work to do.  I will discuss some of the challenges in reliably characterizing devices of this scale and compare quantitatively this generation of devices to our more conventional Falcon devices. Finally, I will put this device in the larger context of the roadmap of devices and technologies we are researching in IBM Quantum.   

Physics Challenges in Industry: An Eclectic View

In this talk, I discuss challenges that physicists, in industry and in general, are facing. including more precise measurements on difficult objects, determining uncertainty for computation and knowledge discovery, integrating physics across length and time scales for complex problems, and understanding how physics can support sustainability. By recognizing these challenges and working collectively to overcome them, physicists will have a greater impact on industry, and society, in the future.   

A Start-Up: Adventures in Bandgap Engineering

I have been involved in the looking at the industrial applications of semiconductors since graduate school and since my first start-up company in 2000 and at my present start-up QuantTera, the term bandgap engineering relates to both the technology development as well as my business ups and downs.  I will start off describing my entrepreneurial experience and contrast my two companies and how the times have changed, and then move onto the development of heterojunction devices.  I believe there is a mind set that is necessary for future aspiring scientists to jump into an entrepreneurial endeavor, and I have some "Rules" or "Lessons" for such a journey.  One of the greatest assets of physicists is their problem solving ability and the resulting cleverness to solve both business problems just as one solves the technical ones.  In actuality the science part is the joy of the start-up and the "other" stuff will make you pull your hair out!   

Distinguished Lectureship Award (2021): Miniaturized Biosensors for Healthcare

Miniaturized biosensors that can measure ions and biomolecules in real time with high sensitivity and resolution have the potential to bring about transformative advances in healthcare.  This talk focuses on electronic biosensing devices for continuous monitoring and early diagnostic applications.  Innovative bipolar junction transistor (BJT) based biosensors with significantly enhanced sensing characteristics and inherently simpler calibration requirements are discussed.^1,2 These sensors are shown to be well suited for mobile applications such as wearables, where continuous monitoring is required with minimal human intervention. Application examples of BJT sensors are also presented.^1,3,4  Additionally, results for CMOS compatible nanowire field effect transistor (FET) biosensors for early disease diagnosis are discussed;⁵ this research has been successfully licensed for commercialization.⁶ Challenges associated with nanofabrication, biomolecule detection and strategies for ensuring successful technology transfer are discussed. Lastly, these electronic biosensors are shown to address unmet needs in other important areas such as sustainable agriculture and environmental monitoring.  The presentation will conclude with open questions and challenges related to biosensor research and development.