People > Mehmet Fatih Yanik > Biographical Background

Biographical Background

Dr. Yanik is currently Ast. Prof. at the Department of Electrical Engineering, and member of Computational and Systems Biology Program at MIT. His expertise is in nanophotonics, bioengineering and neurobiology. He earned B.S. and M.S degrees in Electrical Engineering and Physics at MIT, where his thesis work with Rajeev Ram on ultrafast spectroscopy received MIT-Chorafas Award. He briefly worked on Quantum Computing at Xerox Parc and on Molecular Electronics at HP Labs with Stanley Williams. At Stanford University, he received his Ph.D. in Applied Physics in Shanhui Fan's group as an Intel Fellow, and completed a short postdoctoral work in Stanford Bioengineering and Neurosurgery Departments with Steve Quake and Theo Palmer. He invented the all-optical on-chip photon storage, which was selected among the top ten research advances of the year by the Technology Research News Magazine in 2004. His work on nano-photonic devices was awarded the first place in the Innovator's Challenge Competition in Silicon Valley in 2004. He is selected the "The Outstanding Young Person" by Junior Chamber International's Branch and also as “One of world’s top 35 innovators under age 35” by Technology Review Magazine. Dr. Yanik’s group demonstrated the first high-throughput whole-animal screening technology. He recently received NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, and Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering. Our studies on stopping light, femtosecond laser nano-surgery, neural regeneration and high-throughput microfluidics received press reviews in several news media including The Economist, Nature, Scientific American Mind, New Scientist, Biophotonics International, Laser Focus World, Photonics Spectra, Technology Research News, and several others.

For more information, please visit www.rle.mit.edu/yanik