The Holonyak Workshop: Connecting history with the future

The inaugural Holonyak Workshop will be held September 12-13, 2024 on the campus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

 

This workshop, named in honor of the late Illinois grad and professor Nick Holonyak, Jr. (1928-2022), will highlight the latest advances in areas where Holonyak made pioneering contributions. After earning his doctoral degree in electrical engineering from the U. of I. in 1954, Holonyak went on to conduct groundbreaking research, including the invention of the first visible light-emitting diode (LED) in 1962.  Throughout his career, his papers, patents, and students transformed the world through deep scientific insights and the transfer of manufacturable technologies to industry. 

This in-person workshop will include invited talks from leaders in industry and academia regarding LEDs, power electronics, and high-speed devices. All of these areas were subjects in which Holonyak was a scientific leader.

Related: "Who was Nick Holonyak, Jr.?"

"The workshop is important to me as an opportunity for students, staff, and faculty to learn and connect here at Illinois, the birthplace of compound semiconductor research in academia," said HMNTL director Larry Lee. "Compound semiconductor-based photonics and electronics are poised to play a prominent role in crucial technologies, including AI, quantum information, beyond-5G wireless communication, and energy-efficient power systems."

Keynote Speakers

 

MEET THE SPEAKERS:

Hiroshi Amano
Hiroshi Amano (天野 浩, Amano Hiroshi, born September 11, 1960) is a Japanese physicist, engineer and inventor specializing in the field of semiconductor technology. For his work he was awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics together with Isamu Akasaki and Shuji Nakamura for "the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources". Amano was elected as a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2016 for the development of p-type gallium nitride (GaN) doping, enabling blue semiconductor LEDs.

Source: Wikipedia

---

 

Oleg Shchekin

Oleg Shchekin is the Chief Technology Officer of Lumileds and is responsible for technology roadmap and incubating new technologies and product concepts that enable Lumileds to lead the industry. Oleg brings over 20 years of innovation, technical development and organizational leadership in semiconductors and LEDs to his role. Dr. Shchekin joined Lumileds in 2005 and has held a number of technical and leadership roles. He has guided LED product efficiency roadmaps, phosphor materials development, incubated and transferred new technologies and products to development, and established and developed a number of technical competencies in R&D. Dr. Shchekin’s previous professional experience includes epitaxial semiconductor crystal growth, semiconductor lasers, and flexible organic semiconductor integrated circuits. His work has been recognized by various awards as well as industry review journals. Dr. Shchekin holds Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering and a B.S. degree in Physics from the University of Texas at Austin.

Source: Lumileds.com

---

Umesh K. Mishra 
Umesh K. Mishra is a professor in the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara (1990–Present). In 2023, he was appointed dean of the UC Santa Barbara College of Engineering.^[1] He is the CTO, co-founder and board member of Transphorm, founded in 2007 and the first company to deliver gallium nitride (GaN) transistor products for high efficiency power conversion technologies. Prior to Transphorm, he co-founded Nitres Inc. in 1996, which was the first company to develop GaN LEDs and transistors.

Source: Wikipedia

 

---