John Rogers

Professor John A. Rogers obtained BA and BS degrees in chemistry and in physics from the University of Texas, Austin, in 1989. From MIT, he received SM degrees in physics and in chemistry in 1992 and the PhD degree in physical chemistry in 1995. From 1995 to 1997, Rogers was a Junior Fellow in the Harvard University Society of Fellows. During this time he also served as a founder and Director of Active Impulse Systems, a company that commercialized technologies developed during his PhD work. He joined Bell Laboratories as a Member of Technical Staff in the Condensed Matter Physics Research Department in 1997, and served as Director of this department from the end of 2000 to 2002. He is the Lee J. Flory-Founder Chair in Engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign with a primary appointment in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. He also holds joint appointments in the Departments of Chemistry, Bioengineering, Mechanical Science and Engineering, and Electrical and Computer Engineering. He currently serves as the Director of a Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center on nanomanufacturing, funded by the National Science Foundation.

Rogers’ research includes fundamental and applied aspects of nano and molecular scale fabrication as well as materials and patterning techniques for unusual electronic and photonic devices, with an emphasis on bio-integrated and bio-inspired systems. He has published more than 350 papers, and is an inventor on over 80 patents and patent applications, more than 50 of which are licensed or in active use by large companies and startups that he has co-founded. His research has been recognized with many awards including, most recently, a National Institutes of Health Award (2012), Lemelson-MIT Prize (2011), a MacArthur Fellowship from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (2009), the George Smith Award from the IEEE (2009), the National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellowship from the Department of Defense (2008), the Daniel Drucker Eminent Faculty Award from the University of Illinois (2007) and the Leo Hendrick Baekeland Award from the American Chemical Society (2007). Rogers is a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE; 2011) and a Fellow of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE; 2009), the American Physical Society (APS; 2006), the Materials Research Society (MRS; 2007) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS; 2008).

We seek to understand and exploit interesting characteristics of 'soft' materials, such as polymers, liquid crystals, and biological tissues as well as hybrid combinations of them with unusual classes of micro/nanomaterials, in the form of ribbons, wires, membranes, tubes or related. Our aim is to control and induce novel electronic and photonic responses in these materials; we also develop new 'soft lithographic' and biomimetic approaches for patterning them and guiding their growth. This work combines fundamental studies with forward-looking engineering efforts in a way that promotes positive feedback between the two. Our current research focuses on soft materials for flexible ‘macroelectronic’ circuits, nanophotonic structures, microfluidic devices, and microelectromechanical systems. These efforts are highly multidisciplinary, and combine expertise from nearly every traditional field of technical study.

For a complete list of publications, see Rogers research group page.  

I. Jung, J. Xiao, V. Malyarchuk, C. Lub, M. Li, Z. Liu, J. Yoon, Y. Huang and J.A. Rogers, “Dynamically Tunable Hemispherical Electronic Eye Camera System with Adjustable Zoom Capability,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 108(5), 1788–1793 (2011). (cover feature article)

J. Viventi, D.-H. Kim, L. Vigeland, E.S. Frechette, J.A. Blanco, Y.-S. Kim, A.E. Avrin, V.R. Tiruvadi, S. W. Hwang, A.C. Vanleer, D.F. Wulsin, K. Davis, C.E. Gelber, L. Palmer, J. Van der Spiegel, J. Wu, J. Xiao, Y. Huang, D. Contreras, J.A. Rogers and B. Litt, “Flexible, Foldable, Actively Multiplexed, High-Density Electrode Array for Mapping Brain Activity In Vivo,” Nature Neuroscience 14(12), 1599-1605 (2011).

J.A. Rogers, M.G. Lagally and R.G. Nuzzo, “Synthesis, Assembly and Applications of Semiconductor Nanomembranes,” Nature 477, 45-53 (2011).  (invited review).

D.-H. Kim, N. Lu, R. Ma, Y.-S. Kim, R.-H. Kim, S. Wang, J. Wu, S.M. Won, H. Tao, A. Islam, K.J. Yu, T.-I. Kim, R. Chowdhury, M. Ying, L. Xu, M. Li, H.-J. Chung, H. Keum, M. McCormick, P. Liu, Y.-W. Zhang, F.G. Omenetto, Y. Huang, T. Coleman and J.A. Rogers, “Epidermal Electronics,” Science 333, 838-843 (2011).

D. Chanda, K. Shigeta, S. Gupta, T. Cain, A. Carlson, A. Mihi, A.J. Baca, G.R. Bogart, P. Braun and J.A. Rogers, ”Large-area Flexible 3D Optical Negative Index Metamaterial Formed by Nanotransfer Printing,” Nature Nanotechnology 6, 402-407 (2011). (cover feature article)

H. Kim, E. Brueckner, J. Song, Y. Li, S. Kim, C. Lu, J. Sulking, K. Choquette, Y. Huang, R.G. Nuzzo and J.A. Rogers, “Unusual Strategies for Using Indium Gallium Nitride Grown on Silicon (111) for Solid-State Lighting,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 108(25), 10072–10077 (2011). (cover feature article)

J. Yoon, L. Li, A.V. Semichaevsky, J.H. Ryu, H.T. Johnson, R.G. Nuzzo and J.A. Rogers, “Flexible Concentrator Photovoltaics Based on Microscale Silicon Solar Cells Embedded In Luminescent Waveguides,” Nature Communications 2(343) DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1318 (2011). (featured image article)

D.-H. Kim, N. Lu, R. Ghaffari, Y.-S. Kim, S.P. Lee, L. Xu, J. Wu, R.-H. Kim, J. Song, Z. Liu, J. Viventi, B. de Graff, B. Elolampi, M. Mansour, M.J. Slepian, S. Hwang, J.D. Moss, S.-M. Won, Y. Huang, B. Litt and J.A. Rogers, “Materials for Multifunctional Balloon Catheters With Capabilities in Cardiac Electrophysiological Mapping and Ablation Therapy,” Nature Materials 10, 316-323 (2011).

• National Institutes of Health Award (2012)
• Semprius’ World Record Solar Modules Selected to Receive the TR10 Award, as One of the Top Ten Emerging Technologies for 2011 by MITs Technology Review Magazine (2012)
• Selected to Receive the Engineering Council Award for Excellence in Advising at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (2012)
• Wulff Lecturership, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2012)
• ICI Distinguished Lecturer, Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta (2012)
• Jonsson School 25th Anniversary Distinguished Lecture, College of Engineering, University of Texas at Dallas (2012)
• GT-COPE Distinguished Lectureship, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology (2012)
• Distinguished Seminar, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California at Berkeley (2012)
• Distinguished Lecturer, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University (2012)
• Selected by Nature as one of the top 10 scientists who mattered in 2011 (2011)
• Nyquist Distinguished Lecturer, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Yale University (2011)
• ASU Distinguished Scholar and Lecturer, Arizona State University (2011)
• Judd Distinguished Lecturer, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Utah (2011)
• Distinguished Seminar Speaker, Department of Mechanical Engineering, North Carolina State University (2011)
• Distinguished Lecturer, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin (2011)
• Eastman Lecturer, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Akron (2011)
• Selected to receive the Lemelson-MIT Prize, awarded annually to a mid-career inventor for accomplishment and promise in innovative work (2011)
• Elected to the National Academy of Engineering (2011)
• Rohsenow Lecturer, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2011)
• Green Photonics Award from the SPIE, for work on printed, microscale inorganic light emitting diode technologies (2011)
• Elected to the list of 125 Extraordinary Exes, in celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Texas Exes, the alumni association of the University of Texas at Austin (2010)
• Nakamura Lecturer, University of California at Santa Barbara (2010)
• Dean’s Distinguished Lecturer, Columbia University (2010)
• Elected as Fellow of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), “For contributions to nanomaterials and nanofabrication techniques for electronic and photonic devices” (2009)
• Selected as a MacArthur Fellow by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, for work in unusual electronic systems (2009)
• George Smith Award for the best paper published in IEEE Electron Devices Letters in 2008:  “Complementary Logic Gates and Ring Oscillators on Plastic Substrates by Use of Printed Ribbons of Single-Crystalline Silicon” (2009)
• Selected as the Inaugural Chapman Visitor and Lectureship, Department of Physics, Rice University (2009)
• Selected as a National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellow by the U.S. Department of Defense (2009)
• Selected as the first holder of the Lee J. Flory - Founder Chair of Engineering Innovation, University of Illinois (2008)
• Elected to the inaugural class of Fellow of the Materials Research Society, "For unique contributions, ranging from the synthesis and characterization of novel materials, to development of unconventional fabrication strategies, to engineering design and testing of electronic devices in commercially realistic applications." (2008)
• Elected as Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study, University of Illinois (2007)
• Selected to receive the Zhongguancun Forum from the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2007)
• Selected for the Baekeland Award of the American Chemical Society, which is conferred biennially upon an American chemist under 40 years of age in recognition of accomplishments in pure or industrial chemistry (2007)
• Selected for the Daniel Drucker Eminent Faculty Award, the highest award bestowed on a member of the faculty in the University of Illinois College of Engineering for achievement in research and teaching (2007)
• Named as the Dorn Lecturer at Northwestern University, Department of Materials Science and Engineering (2007)
• Elected as Fellow of the American Physical Society, "For contributions to the fields of flexible electronics, optical fiber devices, nanolithography and picosecond ultrasonics" (2006)
• Selected for one of the "10 Coolest Technologies That You’ve Never Heard Of," for stretchable silicon, by PC Magazine (2006)
• Selected as one of the top 15 Innovators in Nanotechnology for 2005, by Nanotech Briefs, NASA Technology Briefs (2006)
• Selected as a 2006 Distinguished Lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin (2006)
• Selected as the 2006 Xerox Distinguished Lecturer (2006)
• Selected for one of "10 Technologies that Will Change the World" by MIT’s Technology Review magazine, for stretchable silicon (2006)
• Selected as One of the Top 50 Research Leaders for 2005 by Scientific American (2005)
• Selected as Runner-Up (one of three) for Small Times Magazine’s Small Tech Researcher of the Year Award (2004)
• Selected for one of "10 Technologies that Will Change the World" by MIT’s
  Technology Review magazine, for microfluidic photonic systems (2004)
• Excellence in Research Award of the Year from Frost and Sullivan for microfluidic photonic systems (2003)
• Circle of Excellence Award from Photonics Spectra Magazine for the RightwaveTM tunable dispersion compensator (2003)
• OFC Attendee’s Choice Award from Lightwave Magazine for the RightwaveTM
  tunable dispersion compensator (2002)
• American Chemical Society Award for Team Innovation: Printed Plastic Electronics and Electronic Paper (2002)
• Excellence in Technical Innovation from Laser Focus World Magazine for tunable microfluidic optical fiber (2002)
• R&D100 Innovation Award from R&D Magazine for the RightwaveTM tunable
  dispersion compensator (2002)
• Robert B. Woodward Scholar, Harvard University (2001)
• R&D Magazine’s Editor’s Choice for the "Best of the Best" new technology for 2001: Printed Plastic Display Circuits (2001)
• R&D100 Innovation Award from R&D Magazine: Printed Plastic Display Circuits (2001)
• Selected by MIT’s Technology Review magazine as one of the top 100 young
  innovators for the 21st century (1999)
• Elected to Junior Fellow of the Harvard University Society of Fellows (1995-1997)