Troy, N.Y. - Michael Shur, the Patricia W. and C. Sheldon Roberts '48 Chaired Professor in Solid State Electronics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been named a fellow of the Electrochemical Society (ECS). Shur is one of 13 newly selected fellows recognized for their individual contributions and leadership in the achievement of science and technology in the area of electrochemistry and solid-state sciences, according to ECS.

Shur is the director of Rensselaer's Center for Broadband Data Transport Science and Technology. His research is primarily focused on semiconductor devices and integrated circuits.

"Professor Shur's research includes the development of materials and processes designed to enhance the performance and flexibility of semiconductors while decreasing the cost and size of the devices," said Wolf von Maltzahn, associate vice president for research at Rensselaer. "Applications for these high-performance semiconductors include more powerful, more efficient wireless communication tools and computing systems for the commercial market, as well as national defense and homeland security."

Shur's pioneering work in the application of terahertz in the field of nanotechnology was noted in a May 2004 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Spectrum article. Shur was part of a multinational team that created a nanotransistor that generates a terahertz signal. This may lead to a new generation of terahertz devices for use in biotechnology and microelectronics. Terahertz waves have a wide range of applications including the detection of spores or microorganisms dangerous to humans.

Shur is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a fellow of the American Physical Society, vice president of the IEEE Sensor Council, a former chair of the U.S. Chapter of Commission D of the International Union of Radio Science, editor-in-chief of the International Journal of High Speed Electronics and Systems, and a member of the honorary editorial board of Solid State Electronics magazine. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Bonn, Germany, named Shur a Humboldt Research Award Winner in 2002. This prize supports his collaborative research in Germany at Walter Schottky Institute in Munich.

Shur joined the Rensselaer faculty in 1996. He earned a doctorate in physics and a doctorate in science from the A.F. Ioffe Institute of Physics and Technology in St. Petersburg, Russia, an honorary doctorate from St. Petersburg State Technical University, and a master's in electrical engineering from the St. Petersburg Electrotechnical Institute.

About the Electrochemical Society
The Electrochemical Society describes itself as an international nonprofit, educational, organization concerned with a broad range of phenomena relating to electrochemical and solid- state science and technology. Founded in 1902, ECS has become the leading society for solid-state and electrochemical science and technology. ECS has 8,000 scientists and engineers in over 75 countries worldwide who hold individual membership, as well as roughly 100 corporations and laboratories who hold corporate membership.

Contact: Mary Cimo
Phone: (518) 687-7174
E-mail: cimom@rpi.edu