Thompson receives junior faculty award for outstanding teaching and research

Written by
Office of Engineering Communications
June 2, 2020

The School of Engineering and Applied Science has honored electrical engineering's Jeff Thompson, along with five other assistant professors, for early-career excellence in research and teaching. This year’s junior faculty award recipients will each receive $50,000 to support their research.

Thompson focuses on physics and device applications at the intersection of quantum optics and quantum information. His research uses optical circuits to isolate and manipulate individual atoms in crystals. These atoms may be used as quantum bits, the fundamental building blocks of quantum communication and computing devices.

In a nomination letter for the award, electrical engineering chair Sharad Malik cited Thompson’s strength in research and his “superlative” record in teaching the department’s required capstone course, known as Car Lab. Malik called Thompson “a sought-after research mentor by undergraduate and graduate students as well as postdocs.”

Thompson will use funding from the award to support a postdoctoral fellow who will help develop novel devices and materials for quantum computing and communications.

For details on the other five recipients, read the full story.