Troy, N.Y. - Omkaram "Om" Nalamasu, professor of materials science and engineering and director of Rensselaer's Center for Integrated Electronics (CIE), has received a $1 million grant from the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR) Faculty Development Program.

The funding, administered through NYSTAR, assists institutions of higher education in New York state in the recruitment and retention of leading entrepreneurial research faculty in science and technological fields that have strong commercial potential.

"Governor George E. Pataki, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, and NYSTAR have embraced and supported a greater technological vision for the Capital Region," said Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson. "Innovation begins with the brightest minds and this program is allowing Rensselaer, the region, and the state to become a magnet for attracting the highest caliber of technological intellect."

Nalamasu, an international expert in micro- and nanoelectronics, has made seminal technical contributions to nanofabrication technology. He has held several key research and development leadership positions in the areas of nanoelectronics, microfabrication, microelectromechanical systems (MEMs), optical waveguides, condensed matter physics, optical lithography, and imaging materials, at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Bell Laboratories/Lucent Technologies, and Agere Systems in Murray Hill, N.J.

Nalamasu's research interests are at the interface of chemistry, materials science, optics, electronics, and engineering. Rensselaer's CIE is a major research center with approximately $8.7 million in funded research annually. The CIE houses a 10,000-square-foot Class 100 micro- and nanofabrication facility and is home to national, multi-university, and multi-organizational interconnect technology programs including the Center for Advanced Interconnect Systems Technologies (CAIST), the Focus Center-NY, the Center for Broadband Data Transport Science and Technology, and the Center for Power Electronics.

The NYSTAR program promotes national and international research collaboration and innovation; better leverages state funding with investments from the federal government, foundations, businesses, venture capital firms, and others; and spurs technology-based research and economic development in New York.

"I applaud Governor Pataki for supporting an initiative that enables New York to attract and retain the best and brightest scientific faculty," said Russell W. Bessette, M.D., the executive director of NYSTAR. "By providing incentives to world-class scientists, Governor Pataki is guaranteeing that New York will continue to build upon the economic and technological gains achieved during the past eight years."

Research teams supported from NYSTAR funds are expected to develop, define, and conduct nationally and internationally recognized research; act as a focal point for multidisciplinary research; attract additional external funding from federal, foundation, and other public and private sources; and participate in entrepreneurial enterprises that will benefit New York state.

Nalamasu will use the grant to develop research programs in the following areas: microsystems; gigascale interconnect research; three-dimensional interconnect structures; materials properties and process modeling; biochips and nanofabrication.

"What attracted me to this area was inspiring leadership, extraordinary vision, and a vibrant research environment at Rensselaer," said Nalamasu. "That, along with the exciting economic development activity in the greater Albany area and support from NYSTAR, is essential to propelling these research areas forward."

About "Om" Nalamasu
As director of Bell Laboratories' Nanofabrication Research Laboratory in Murray Hill, N.J., Nalamasu ran a facility that included a state-of-the-art nanofabrication Class 100 clean room and electron-beam lithography operations. In addition to his Rensselaer center directorship, Nalamasu is the chief technical officer of the New Jersey Nanotechnology Consortium, a public/private nonprofit enterprise he co-founded to foster nanotechnology partnerships across academia, industry, and government. Rensselaer is a partner in that consortium. The goals of the consortium include fostering leading-edge basic and applied research in nanotechnology and workforce training. Additionally the consortium has a positive economic impact on the Northeast as a prototyping resource to small, medium, and large companies.

In 2000, Nalamasu earned the American Chemical Society National Award for Team Innovation for the Invention and Innovation of 193 nm (nanometer) Resist Material. In 1998 he was the recipient of Japan's Photopolymer Science & Technology Award and was an invited speaker at the National Academy of Engineering's symposium on the "Frontiers of Engineering." Additionally, in 1997 he and his technical team won an R&D 100 Award for Invention, Development and Commercialization of the first Deep-UV (ultraviolet) Chemically Amplified Photoresist (CAMP), which refers to the use of 248 nm wavelength light to pattern small features.

At Bell Labs and Agere, Nalamasu was a representative to the SEMATECH Lithography Technical Working Group, Focus Technical Advisory Board, and Resist Advisory Groups. He was also a member of SEMATECH's 193 nm and 157 nm Lithography Steering Committees. He holds memberships in the ACS (American Chemical Society), SPIE (Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers), OSA (Optical Society of America), and IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers).

Contact: Theresa Bourgeois
Phone: (518) 276-2840
E-mail: bourgt@rpi.edu