Supratik Guha has been named the next director of the Nanoscience and Technology Division at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, as well as director of Argonne’s Center for Nanoscale Materials, a DOE Office of Science User Facility. In addition, Guha has been named a professor at the University of Chicago’s Institute for Molecular Engineering. He moves to Argonne and the University from his most recent position as the director of Physical Sciences at IBM Research.
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“Dr. Guha is an extremely well-respected and accomplished scientific leader with an incredible track record of translating science and engineering breakthroughs into industry-relevant technologies,” said Argonne director Peter Littlewood. “His expertise and experience in solving technical challenges will enable Argonne to continue develop novel solutions in energy, the environment and national security.”
As director of Physical Sciences at IBM, a position he held since 2010, Guha was responsible for IBM’s worldwide strategy in the Physical Sciences. He led a large team of researchers who are distributed across IBM’s worldwide laboratories and engaged in fundamental and applied science research. As a manager at IBM, Guha built from the ground up several successful programs and research and development alliances with other companies. In addition, he has been instrumental in transitioning early stage science into viable technologies in silicon photonics, carbon electronics, photovoltaics and other innovations.
At Argonne, Guha will manage and coordinate the research efforts of the NST division and lead the CNM’s community of roughly 500 annual users, as well as build new partnerships.
At the Institute for Molecular Engineering, Guha will become a major user of and contributor to the further development of the new Pritzker Nanofabrication Facility that will open in the William Eckhart Research Center later this year. His work at the facility is expected to bridge the gap between academia and industry, leading to the creation of new nanotechnology applications.
“Dr. Guha is an outstanding addition to our team in organic materials synthesis and in semiconductor technology, as well as to efforts in using information technology in areas ranging from urban environments to water resources,” said Matthew Tirrell, the Founding Pritzker Director of the Institute for Molecular Engineering.
As a researcher at IBM, Guha led the materials science work that resulted in the development of high dielectric constant oxide metal gate technology for silicon-based integrated circuits. This technology is used today by IBM and a number of its partners in mainframes, as well as by the majority of smartphones and tablets that are currently sold worldwide.
Guha received his PhD in materials science from the University of Southern California in 1991. After a postdoctoral stint at IBM in Leo Esaki’s group in 1991-92 and as a materials scientist at 3M between 1992-95, he rejoined IBM in 1995 and has been there since. He also currently holds an adjunct professorship at Columbia University. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the Materials Research Society. In 2013, he was awarded IBM’s highest technical award, the IBM Corporate Award, for his work on high-k metal gate technology for silicon CMOS. Earlier this year, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
—Prof. Jacqueline Stewart
