The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has selected Zheng Wang of the Cockrell School of Engineering as a 2013 Sloan Research Fellow.
Wang, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is one of 125 outstanding researchers selected as recipients of Sloan Research Fellowships for 2013. Awarded annually since 1955, the fellowships are given to early-career scientists and scholars whose achievements and potential identify them as rising stars in the next generation of scientific leaders.
“The Sloan Research Fellows are the best of the best among young scientists,” said Paul L. Joskow, president of he Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. “If you want to know where the next big scientific breakthrough will come from, look to these extraordinary men and women. The Foundation is proud to support them during this pivotal stage of their careers.
Wang’s research is focused on developing nanodevices and nanomaterials that can be used for a variety of innovations, including wearable medical devices.
“Zheng’s work is playing a vital role in advancing our understanding fundamental rules that govern nanophotonics, and will lead to highly efficient photonic devices. Zheng and his colleagues in ECE have made UT a leader in nanophotonics,” said Ahmed Tewfik, chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
The recipients are drawn from 61 colleges and universities across the United States and Canada. The fellowships are awarded in eight scientific fields — chemistry, computer science, economics, mathematics, evolutionary and computational molecular biology, neuroscience, ocean sciences and physics. Fellows receive $50,000 to be used to further their research.
In 2012, Wang was one of two Cockrell School researchers named to MIT Technology Review’s list of the world’s top 35 innovators under the age of 35. Wang and assistant professor Nanshu Lu were chosen from a pool of 250 nominees for the global list.
