Troy, N.Y, — Toh-Ming Lu, the R.P. Baker Distinguished Professor of Physics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been named a lifetime fellow of the Materials Research Society (MRS). The MRS has recognized Lu for his contributions to the advancement of materials research, specifically his “seminal contributions to the fundamental understanding of thin film morphological evolution.”

This is the first year that MRS has named a class of fellows. Lu joins a distinguished group that includes 34 researchers for their outstanding contributions to the field. He will be formally honored during the 2008 MRS Spring Meeting on March 26, 2008, in San Francisco.

A nanomaterials expert, Lu’s research strives to develop new, high-performing nanostructures that can be used in integrated electronics, semiconductors, and energy storage devices. His lab uses new approaches to develop unique nanostructures and analyze those structures as they grow. His imaging and analysis techniques allow researchers to fully understand how and why different growth techniques grow nanomaterials in the very specific ways. His lab is also developing techniques that deposit ultra-thin layers of conductive metals and dielectrics on to surfaces to develop new, super-fast and efficient electronics and nanodevices.  

Lu joined Rensselaer in 1982. He formerly served as director of the Center for Advanced Interconnect Science and Technology and chairman of the Physics Department at Rensselaer. Lu is a fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physical Society, and the American Vacuum Society. He is author of more than 400 technical papers and holds nine patents related to his research. He has earned numerous other honors, including Rensselaer’s Early Career Award in 1986, the SRC Invention Award in 1988, the Rensselaer Center for Integrated Electronics Faculty Award in 1993, the William Wiley Distinguished Faculty Award in 2002, Materials Research Society Medal Award in 2004, and SRC Faculty Leadership Award in 2005. Lu earned a bachelor’s in physics from Cheng Kung University in Taiwan, a master’s in physics from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and a doctorate from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

The Materials Research Society was established in 1973. It strives to create links between researchers working in the ever-expanding field of materials science. Currently, more than 14,000 researchers are members of MRS.