The Nigerian Professor That Made Barack Obama’s Award

March 2, 2024 Iconic Scientists 52
Post Views: 442

Deji Akinwande is a Nigerian-American Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, with a courtesy affiliation in Materials Science, at the University of Texas at Austin. In 2016, he received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from President Barack Obama and is also a Fellow of the American Physical Society. Akinwande is renowned for his work in 2D materials, flexible and wearable nanoelectronics, nanotechnology, and STEM education.

Background:

Born in Washington, DC, Akinwande moved to Nigeria during his formative years and was raised in Ikeja. His father served as the financial controller of Guardian News, while his mother was employed at the Ministry of Education. Akinwande’s academic journey began at Federal Government College, Idoani, where he developed a passion for science and engineering.

Returning to the US in 1994, he enrolled at Cuyahoga Community College before transferring to Case Western Reserve University. Here, he studied electrical engineering and applied physics. During his master’s, he was at the forefront of designing near-field microwave tips for non-destructive imaging.

Stanford University welcomed him as a graduate student, where he delved into the electronic properties of carbon-based materials. During his PhD, he received distinctions as an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow and was later chosen as a DARE (Diversifying Academia, Recruiting Excellence) Fellow in 2008. After obtaining his doctorate in 2009, he became an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Austin in January 2010. His research attracted grants from esteemed agencies such as the NSF, ARO, DTRA, DARPA, AFOSR, and the Office of Naval Research. Notably, the latter emphasized high-frequency flexible 2D electronics.

His collaboration with Aixtron led to breakthroughs in the wafer-scale growth of graphene. This partnership resulted in the first 300 mm wafers using chemical vapor deposition for scalable growth of polycrystalline graphene. In 2011, alongside Prof. Philip Wong of Stanford University, he co-authored the inaugural textbook on Carbon Nanotube and Graphene Device Physics.

By 2013, Akinwande had become a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). His pioneering work in 2D graphene electronics culminated in 2015 with the unveiling of the first two-dimensional silicene transistor. This was accomplished in association with Alessandro Molle’s group at CNR, Italy, by evaporating silicon onto a silver crystal, using scanning tunnelling microscopy for real-time growth monitoring.

This groundbreaking research was recognized as one of 2015’s top science stories by Discover magazine. Moreover, his silicene work became the most cited publication of its age in Nature Nanotechnology. Advancing further, in 2017, he collaborated with Nanshu Lu’s group to produce the world’s thinnest and most transparent electronic tattoo sensors from graphene. Remarkably, these sensors, less than 500 nm thick and 85% transparent, could be affixed to the skin like temporary tattoos. They had the capability to measure various physiological parameters, from electrocardiography to hydration. By 2022, these graphene tattoos were transformed into wearable devices for continuous blood pressure monitoring, a feat published in Nature Nanotechnology.

Akinwande also introduced the first “atomristor” by exploring nonvolatile resistance switching in a 2D atomic sheet of molybdenum disulfide. These devices, as slender as 1.5 nm, have potential applications ranging from 5G and future 6G smartphones to AI circuits.

Editorially, Akinwande serves on the Board of Reviewing Editors for Science and holds editorial roles with ACS Nano, Nature Journal NPJ 2D Materials and Applications, and previously with IEEE Electron Devices Letters. He has delivered numerous plenary and keynote addresses, including a 2017 talk at the SPIE annual Optics & Photonics meeting.

In 2017, he was honored as an American Physical Society Fellow and in 2018 as a Fulbright Fellow. His plans for 2019 included a visit to Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. Some of his mentees, like Dr. Shideh Kabiri, Dr Li Tao, Dr. Seongin Hong, and Myungsoo Kim, have secured professorships at various global institutions.

For several years, Akinwande was nominated as a finalist for the ‘UT System Regents’ Outstanding Teaching’ Award, representing the pinnacle of teaching excellence in Texas.

Furthermore, he has presided over numerous major conferences and committees in nanoelectronics and nanotechnology, including the Gordon Research Conference on 2D materials, the Device Research Conference, and the International Electron Devices Meeting NDT Sub-committee.

 

At Nigerian Books of Record, we keep track of record breakers, impact makers, and change agents. We aim at documenting, celebrating, and honoring the remarkable achievements and excellent records of people.

By honoring new generations of game changers and sharing their authentic stories, we aim to break boundaries, entertain, inspire, and inform the world.

Books of Record will always strive to encourage, find, and share the uniqueness in every achiever who has distinguished themselves through hard work in every professional calling of life.

Always visit this platform for the latest updates on any of our inductions. Send us an email for suggestions on how we can serve you better or suggestions on the next NBR Hall of Famer. 

Advertise with us here. 

Please, follow Nigerian Books of Record on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

52 Comments

  4. Nice post. I was checking constantly this blog and I’m impressed! Extremely useful info specially the remaining part 🙂 I take care of such info a lot. I was looking for this particular information for a very long time. Thanks and good luck.

    Reply

  16. An intriguing discussion is definitely worth comment. I think that you need to write more on this subject, it might not be a taboo subject but usually people do not speak about these issues. To the next! Kind regards!!

    Reply

  24. It’s actually a nice and useful piece of info. I am happy that you simply shared this useful information with us.Please stay us informed like this. Thank you forsharing.

    Reply

  26. whoah this blog is magnificent i love reading your posts. Keep up the good work! You know, many people are searching around for this information, you can help them greatly.

    Reply

  32. Heya i’m for the primary time here. I found this board and I findIt truly helpful & it helped me out much. I am hoping to providesomething back and aid others like you helped me.

    Reply

  33. I do believe all the ideas you have offered in your post. They are very convincing and can definitely work. Still, the posts are too short for novices. Could you please lengthen them a little from subsequent time? Thank you for the post.

    Reply

  44. Hello i am kavin, its my first time to commenting anyplace, when i read this post i thought i could also create comment due to this good piece of writing.

    Reply

  45. Hi! Do you know if they make any plugins to assist withSearch Engine Optimization? I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords butI’m not seeing very good success. If you know of any please share.Many thanks!

    Reply

  46. Hi! I’m at work surfing around your blog from my new iphone 4! Just wanted to say I love reading your blog and look forward to all your posts! Carry on the fantastic work!

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*