Andrea Alù Joins Graduate Center

Media contacts:
Tanya Domi, 212-817-7283, tdomi@gc.cuny.edu
Paul McQuiston 212-413-3307, paul.mcquiston@asrc.cuny.edu

The renowned researcher's lab to open on January 18, 2018

NEW YORK, January 12, 2018 -- Award-winning engineer Andrea Alù, -- renowned for his breakthrough research on invisibility cloaking technology, will join the Graduate Center of the City University of New York as founding director of the Advanced Science Research Center's (ASRC) highly anticipated Photonics Initiative. He and his team will open their lab on January 18th.

Alù also will hold the title of Einstein Professor of Physics at the Graduate Center in affiliation with the Department of Electrical Engineering at The City College of New York. 

I am very excited to be selected as the director of the Photonics Initiative at the ASRC, and I look forward to the opportunity to establish a recognized center of excellence in photonics and electromagnetics in New York City," Alù said. "The resources and research culture located at the ASRC will be a boon to my work, and I am intrigued by the collaborations between my lab and the other initiatives at the center.
 
Alù is best known for his breakthroughs in invisibility cloaking, or making objects transparent to incoming microwave signals. He realized the first freestanding three-dimensional invisibility cloak. He also developed the first nonreciprocal acoustic circulator, which is a one-way sound device.

The researcher's discoveries in metamaterials and plasmonics have broad implications for a range of sectors, including defense, communications, medical imaging, acoustics, mechanics and robotics.
 
Alù's appointments mark the latest achievement in an impressive career. He comes to the ASRC from the University of Texas at Austin where he was the Temple Foundation Endowed Professor #3 in the Cockrell School of Engineering. He was also a member of the Cockrell School's Wireless Networking and Communications Group and the head of the Metamaterials and Plasmonic Research Laboratory. Alù is a recent recipient of the National Science Foundation's Alan T. Waterman Award (2015) -- one of the top prizes for scientists and engineers in the United States -- and many other prestigious awards.

"Andrea is an innovative thinker, dedicated researcher and excellent teacher whose work has the potential to transform not just technology but daily life," said Joy Connolly, provost and senior vice president of the Graduate Center. "We are thrilled that he is joining our team of equally accomplished and committed ASRC directors. I am confident that Andrea, in collaboration with his ASRC and Graduate Center colleagues, will put CUNY at the forefront of science research and teaching."

Alù is the fifth internationally recognized scientist to be named a founding initiative director at the ASRC. He joins Patrizia Casaccia (neuroscience), Kevin H. Gardner (structural biology), Rein V. Ulijn (nanoscience), and Charles J. Vörösmarty (environmental sciences).

"With Andrea's appointment, we have filled the ASRC's five directorships, and we couldn't have found a more qualified candidate," said Robert Campbell, vice president for information technology and administrative services at the Graduate Center, who serves as COO of the ASRC. "The ASRC is designed to be a hub of interdisciplinary research in some of today's most exciting and important fields. Already, we have supported and produced groundbreaking research, and, with Andrea as our photonics director, that will only accelerate."

Alù holds more than a dozen patents and patent applications, and he has co-authored more than 500 frequently cited contributions to scientific literature. He serves on the editorial boards of several international journals including Physical Review B, New Journal of Physics, and Advanced Optical Materials. He is also a fellow of the Optical Society of America (OSA), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the American Physical Society (APS), and the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE). He is a Simons Foundation Investigator in Physics and a distinguished lecturer for the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society and the OSA.

Alù has a Ph.D., M.S. and an undergraduate degree from the University of Roma Tre in Rome. He conducted his postdoctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania.
 

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About the Graduate Center, CUNY
The Graduate Center, CUNY, is the focal point for advanced teaching and research at The City University of New York (CUNY), the nation's largest urban public university. With over 35 doctoral and master's programs of the highest caliber, the Graduate Center fosters pioneering research and scholarship in the arts and sciences and prepares students for careers in universities and the private, nonprofit, and government sectors. The Graduate Center's commitment to research and scholarship for the public good is exemplified by its more than 30 centers, institutes, and initiatives, including its Advanced Science Research Center, a 200,000 square-foot facility in upper Manhattan, designed to promote collaboration among scientists in five areas of global research and innovation: nanoscience, photonics, structural biology, neuroscience, and environmental sciences. The Graduate Center benefits from highly ambitious and diverse students and alumni -- who in turn teach hundreds of thousands of undergraduates every year. Through its public programs, the Graduate Center enhances New York City's intellectual and cultural life.

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