Dr. Yuji Zhao is an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rice University. He received the Ph.D. degree from University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) in 2012 under the supervision of Nobel Laureate Professor Shuji Nakamura. Yuji Zhao’s research and teaching interests are in the area of electronic materials, advanced devices, and nanotechnologies. His current research projects involve the materials science and device engineering of wide bandgap semiconductors for energy efficiency, RF and power electronics, and quantum photonics applications. He has co-authored 4 book chapters, over 80 journal papers, over 90 conference proceedings and presentations, and over 20 patents. His awards include the 2019 U.S. Presidential PECASE Award from the White House, which is the highest honor given by the US government to early-career scientists and engineers. He is also a receipt of 2019 MIT TR 35 – China Award, 2019 DoD ARO DURIP Award, 2017 ASU Fulton Outstanding Assistant Professor Award, 2016 DTRA Young Investigator Award, 2015 NASA Early Career Faculty Award, 2015 SFAz Bisgrove Scholar Faculty Award, 2010–2013 UCSB SSLEC Outstanding Research Award, and several best paper awards. Dr. Zhao is leading the Wide bandgap Innovative Device Engineering (WIDE) Lab at Rice University. More information about Dr. Zhao and the Rice WIDE Lab can be found online at http://wide.rice.edu.
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Research Areas
Electronic materials, advanced devices, and nanotechnologies. Wide and ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors including nitrides (GaN, AlN, BN), diamond, and gallium oxide. Advanced devices including power electronics, RF devices and circuits, integrated biomedical sensors, LEDs, lasers, solar cells, and integrated photonics.
Education
Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara, ECE (2012)
B.S., Fudan University, Microelectronics (2008)
Honors & Awards
2019 U.S. Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)
2019 MIT Technology Review TR 35 – China Award
2019 DoD ARO DURIP Award
2017 ASU Fulton Outstanding Assistant Professor Award
2016 DTRA Young Investigator Award
2015 NASA Early Career Faculty Award
2015 Science Foundation Arizona (SFAz) Bisgrove Scholar Faculty Award