Roberto Myers receives NSF CAREER Award

Roberto Myers, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, materials science and engineering and physics; has received a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award from the National Science Foundation. The CAREER award is the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious award in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations.

Myers was awarded $530,000 for his research on “Extreme Band Engineering in Polarization Graded Nanowire Heterostructures for High Efficiency Photonics.” He is growing and studying nitride nanowires that increase the design flexibility of semiconductor photonics. Polarization grading allows formation of pn-junctions within nanowires without using impurity doping. This enables enhanced performance of LEDs and photodetectors across the ultraviolet to visible spectrum.