Andrea Alù

Andrea Alù

Assistant Professor (Tenure-Track)
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Texas at Austin
Phone: +1 (512) 471.5922;  Fax: +1 (512) 471.6598
E-mail: alu at mail . utexas . edu
Web: http://users.ece.utexas.edu/~aalu (this website)

Education

Ph.D.: University of Roma Tre (Italy), Engineering of Biomedical Electronics, Electromagnetics and Telecommunications, 2007
M.S.: University of Roma Tre (Italy), Environmental Economics and Engineering, 2004
Laurea: University of Roma Tre (Italy), Electronics Engineering, 2001.

Research Interests

Electromagnetism. Acoustics. Metamaterials and plasmonic nanomaterials. Nanoelectromagnetics. Metamaterial and plasmonic cloaking. Nanocircuits and nanostructures modeling at optical frequencies. Mminiaturized RF antennas and nano-antennas. Plasmonics, nano-optics and nano-photonics. Microwave, THz, infrared and optical applications of complex media, metamaterials and metasurfaces. Optical properties, biological and biomedical applications of plasmonic nanoparticles. Photonics and materials science. Metal-dielectric nanocomposites and thin metal films. Electromagnetic and photonic crystals. RF antennas and circuits. Analysis and synthesis of planar and conformal integrated components and phased antenna arrays. Theoretical and numerical methods for electromagnetics.

Professional Career

2009-now: Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Texas at Austin
2009-now: Assistant Professor, Applied Research Laboratories, UT Austin
2010-now: Consultant, Southwest Research Institute
2008-now: Consultant, Eureka Aerospace
2007-2008: Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Pennsylvania
2006: Adjunct Professor of Electromagnetic Field Theory, University of Roma Tre
2003-2006: PhD Student, University of Roma Tre
2002-2006: Visiting Graduate Student, University of Pennsylvania

Professional Honors and Scientific Awards

2012: SPIE Early Career Achievement Award
2011: DTRA Young Investigator Award
2011: Issac Koga Gold Medal
2011: USNC-URSI Traveling Fellowship Grant
2010: AFOSR Young Investigator Award
2010: NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award
2010: URSI Commission B Young Scientist Award
2010: OSA Traveling Lecturer
2008: CST University Publication Award 2008
2008: 'Metamaterials' Reviewer Award 2008
2008: Leopold B. Felsen Award for Excellence in Electrodynamics
2007: URSI Commission B Young Scientist Award
2007: ISAP Young Scientist Travel Grant
2006: Incubic/Milton Chang Travel Award from Optical Society of America (OSA)
2005: URSI General Assembly Young Scientist Award
2005: IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S) Travel Grant
2005: Finalist at the IEEE AP-S Student Contest Award
2005: European School of Antennas Study Grant
2004: SUMMA Graduate Fellowship in Advanced Electromagnetics
2004: Finalist at the IEEE AP-S Student Contest Award
2004: Raj Mittra Travel Grant (RMTG) Junior Researcher Award
2004: URSI Commission B Young Scientist Award
2003: Second prize at the IEEE AP-S Student Contest Award
2002: Scipione Bobbio Award (best Laurea (MS) dissertation in electrodynamics in the whole Italy)
2001: Isabella Sassi Bonadonna Award
2001: Galluzzi for Engineering Award (best graduate in engineering all over Italy)

Student Awards

2012: J. C. Soric, Best Student Paper Award (1st place), "Microwave Applications of Epsilon-Near-Zero Metamaterials," 2012 Mini-Symposium on Wireless and Microwave Circuits and Systems (WMCS 2012), Waco, TX.
2012: P.Y. Chen, Best Student Paper Award (3rd place), "Ultra-Broadband Mantle Cloak Using Non-Foster Negative-Impedance Metasurfaces," USNC-URSI National Radio Science Meeting, Boulder, CO.
2011: C. A. Esteva, Outstanding Scholar-Leader Award in Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering, UT Austin, USA.
2011: P.Y. Chen, Best Student Paper Award (3rd place), "Atomic-Scale Mantle Cloak Using a Graphene Monolayer," Metamaterials 2011, Barcelona, Spain.
2011: Y. Zhao, Best Student Paper Award (1st place), "Broadband Circular Polarizers Using Plasmonic Metasurfaces," IEEE Antennas and Propagation Symposium, Spokane, WA, USA
2011: P.Y. Chen, Finalist Student Paper, "Optical Nonlinear Metasurfaces Formed by Plasmonic Nanoantennas," IEEE Antennas and Propagation Symposium, Spokane, WA, USA
2011: X.X. Liu, Honorable Mention Student Paper, "First-Principle Homogenization of Magnetodielectric Metamaterial Arrays," IEEE Antennas and Propagation Symposium, Spokane, WA, USA
2010: P.Y. Chen, Finalist Student Paper, "Optical Metamaterials and Metasurfaces Formed by Nanoantennas Loaded by Nonlinear Materials," Metamaterials 2010, Karlsruhe, Germany
2010: P.Y. Chen, Honorable Mention Student Paper, "Patterned Metallic Surfaces to Realize 1-D, 2-D and 3-D Ultrathin Invisibility Cloaks," IEEE Antennas and Propagation Symposium, Toronto, Canada
2010: X.X. Liu, Honorable Mention Student Paper, "Plasmonic Low-Profile Nanoantenna Reflectors," IEEE Antennas and Propagation Symposium, Toronto, Canada
2009: M.D. Guild, Best Student Paper Award (1st place), "Acoustic Wave Scattering Cancellation Using Auxetic Materials and Layers with Negative Stiffness Inclusions," Auxetics 2009, Bolton, U.K.

Research Grant Support

'11-'13-: Metasurfaces for Cloaks, Anti-Cloaks, Isolators & Concentrators, DTRA YIP
'11-'14-: Frequency Agile Plasmonic Antennas and Sensors, ARO
'10-'13-: Exotic Properites of Metamaterials, AFOSR YIP
'10-'15-: Large-Area, Active, Tunable Optical Metamaterials, ONR MURI
'10-'15: Cloaking for Sensing, NSF CAREER
'09-'12-: Tunable Metamaterials, ARO STTR, Phase 1&2 with Aegis Technologies
'09-11-: Metamaterial Arrays, Air Force Research Laboratory, Hanscom base
'10: Metamaterial Cloaks for Energy, Summer Research Assignment, UT Austin
'09-'11: Faculty Travel Grant, UT Austin
'09: Novel Tunable Metamaterials, Center for Nanopahse Materials
'09: Efficient Small Antennas, Eureka Aerospace, Inc.
'09: Electromagnetic Cloaking, Applied Research Laboratories
'09: Acoustic Cloaking, Applied Research Laboratories
'05: SUMMA Graduate Fellowship in Advanced Electromagnetics, SUMMA Found.
'02: Isabella Sassi Bonadonna Scholarship, AEI (Italian Electrical Association)

Supersivised MS Dissertations

2010: Jason Soric, “Epsilon-Near-Zero Waveguide-to-Coaxial Matching and Multiband Gap Launcher Antenna,” ECE Department, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, U.S.A.

Professional Services

• Professional Societies

2011-Now: IEEE Central Texas Chapter Chair for AP-S and MTT-S

• Editorships

2011-present: Editor of Advanced Electromagnetics.
2011-present: Editor of Metamaterials.
2011-present: Guest Editor of IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, Special Issue on “Nanoplasmonics”.
2011-present: Associate Editor of Optics Express.
2011: Guest Editor of Optics Communications, Special Issue on "Sub-wavelength Light Localization".
2010-2011: Guest Editor of Sensors, Special Issue on "Metamaterial for Sensing".
2009-present: Associate Editor of IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters.

• Conference Committees

2013: Steering Committee Member for IEEE Radio Wireless Week, Austin, TX, USA
2012: Technical Program Committee Member for IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation, Chicago, IL, USA
2012: Technical Program Committee Member for IEEE International Workshop on Antenna Technology (iWAT2012): "Small Antennas and Unconventional Applications, Tucson, AZ, USA
2012: Technical Program Committee Member for 11th EEEIC International Conference on Environment and Electrical Engineering, Roma, Italy
2012: Technical Program Committee Member for Advanced Electromagnetic Symposium (AES 2012), Paris, France
2011: Steering Committee Member, Sponsors and Exhibitions Committee Chair for Metamaterials 2011, Barcelona, Spain
2011: Technical Program Committee Member for 10th EEEIC International Conference on Environment and Electrical Engineering, Roma, Italy
2010: Steering Committee Member at Metamaterials'2010, Karlsruhe, Germany
2010: Technical Program Committee Member for 9th EEEIC International Conference on Environment and Electrical Engineering, Prague, Czech Republic.
2010: Technical Program Committee Member for IEEE 71st Vehicular Technology Conference, Taipei, Taiwan.
2010: Technical Program Committee Member at 13th IEEE International Multitopic Conference, Islamabad, Pakistan.
2009: Technical Program Committee Member; Metamaterials 2009, London, UK.
2009: Technical Program Committee Member for IEEE 70th Vehicular Technology Conference, Anchorage, AK, U.S.A..
2009: Technical Program Committee Member for the 2009 IEEE International Workshop on Antenna Technology (iWAT 2009), Santa Monica, CA.
2006: Organizing committee member for the 3rd Workshop on Metamaterials and Special Materials for Electromagnetic Applications and TLC, Roma, Italy.

• Chairman and Session Organizer

2012: Chairman of the session Photonic Metamaterials II at SPIE Photonics West, San Francisco, CA, USA
2011: Chairman of the session Advances in Nanoelectromagnetics at the 2011 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation, Spokane, WA, USA
2011: Chairman of the session New materials, meta-materials, EBG structures III at the 5th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EUCAP 2011), Roma, Italy
2011: Chairman of the session Three-Dimensional Photonic Crystal Structures at SPIE Photonics West, San Francisco, CA, USA
2010: Chairman of the session Anisotropic metamaterials at Metamaterials 2010, Karlsruhe, Germany
2010: Chairman of the session Applications and manufacturing of metamaterials at Days on Diffraction, St. Petersburg, Russia
2010: Chairman of the session Transformation Electromagnetics and Cloaking at the IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and USNC/URSI National Radio Science Meeting, Toronto, Canada
2010: Chairman and organizer of the special session on Metamaterial and Plasmonic Antennas at the 4th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation, Barcelona, Spain.
2009: Session Organizer and Chairman of 2 Special Sessions (Cloaking and Extreme Metamaterials) for Metamaterials 2009, London, UK.
2009: Chairman of the session Cloaking, Tunneling and Transformation EM at the IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and USNC/URSI National Radio Science Meeting, Charleston, SC, U.S.A.
2009: Chairman of the session Photonic Crystals at Days on Diffraction, St. Petersburg, Russia.
2008: Chairman of the session Cloaking at Metamaterials’2008, Pamplona, Spain.
2007: Chairman of the poster session at Metamaterials’2007, Roma, Italy.
2007: Chairman of the session Complex Media at the USNC/CNC/URSI North American Radio Science Meeting, Ottawa, Canada.

• Department Committees

2011-Now: Faculty Recruiting Committee
2011-Now: Faculty Expectations Committee
2010-2011: Major Sequence Appeals Committee
2010-2011: Transition Committee
2010-2011: Faculty Recruiting Committee (Data Center area)
2010: Academic Integrity Orientation for Incoming ECE Graduate Students
2009-2011: Graduate Recruiting Committee
 

Patents

• Cloaked Sensor, US Patent Provisional Application No. 200961/164,610, International Patent Application No. WO2010/114834
• Optical Circuits and Circuit Elements and Methods of Forming Same, US Patent Application No. 20080212920, European Patent Application No. 05857467.4
• Waveguides and Scattering Devices Incorporating Epsilon-Negative and/or Mu-Negative Slabs, US Patent No. 7218190

Active Peer Reviewer

• Science Magazine
• Nature Photonics
• Nature Communications
• Physical Review Letters
• Physical Review A
• Physical Review B
• Physical Review E
• Nano Letters
• ACS Nano
• Materials Today
• Advanced Materials
• Advanced Functional Materials
• Applied Physics Letters
• Journal of Applied Physics
• Journal of the Optical Society of America A
• Journal of the Optical Society of America B
• Optics Express
• Optics Communications
• Optics Letters
• Applied Optics
• Proceedings of IEEE
• Proceedings of the Royal Society A
• IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation
• IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques
• IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology
• IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters
• IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters
• IEEE OSA Journal of Lightwave Technology
• IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine
• IET Electronics Letters
• IET Microwaves, Antennas and Propagation
• Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics
• New Journal of Physics
• Laser and Photonics Reviews
• Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics
• Current Applied Physics
• Applied Physics A
• Applied Physics B
• Journal of Optics
• Journal of Optics A: Pure and Applied Optics
• Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics
• Energies
• Materials
• Journal of Electromagnetic Waves and Applications
• Progress in Electromagnetics Research (PIER) Book
• International Journal of Infrared and Millimeter Waves
• Journal of Nanophotonics
• Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids
• Optical Materials
• Journal of Electrostatics
• Computational Materials Science
• European Physical Journal - Applied Physics
• European Physical Journal B
• Wave Motion
• Radio Science
• Metamaterials Journal
• Research Letters in Electronics
• Electromagnetics
• Journal of Nanobiotechnology
• Journal of Engineering Mathematics
• International Journal of RF and Microwave Computer-Aided Engineering
• Radio Engineering
• International Conferences:  
   o Metamaterials, Barcelona, Spain, October 10-15, 2011
   o IEEE AP-S, Spokane, AK, July 3-8, 2011
   o 10th Int. Conf. EEEIC, Roma, Italy, May 8-11, 2011
   o URSI National Radio Science Meeting, Boulder, CO, USA, January 3-6, 2011
   o Metamaterials, Karlsruhe, Germany, September 16-19, 2010
   o IEEE AP-S, Toronto, Canada, July 11-17, 2010
   o URSI Comm. B Electromagn. Theory Symp., Berlin, Germany, Aug. 16-19, 2010
   o 13th IEEE Int. Multitopic Conference, Islamabad, Pakistan, Dec. 14-15, 2009
   o IEEE 70th Conf. Vehicular Technology, Anchorage, AK, Sept. 20-23, 2009
   o Metamaterials 2009, London, UK, Sept. 1-4, 2009
   o iWAT 2009, Santa Monica, CA, March 2-4, 2009
   o Metamaterials 2008, Pamplona, Spain, Sept. 23-26, 2008 
   o URSI General Assembly 2008, Chicago, IL, August 8-16, 2008
   o USNC URSI Student Paper Competition 2008, Boulder, CO, January 3-6, 2008
• Editorial Offices:  
   o Wiley
   o IEEE Press
   o Cambridge Univresity Press
   o CRC Press
   o Prentice Hall
• Funding Agencies:  
   o US Air Force Research Office
   o US National Science Foundation
   o Dutch Technology Foundation (STW-NWO)
   o Center for Materials Innovation, Washington University
   o University of Wisconsin Madison Research Center
   o Kentucky Science and Engineering Foundation
   o Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
   o Israel Science Foundation
   o L'Oreal Austria

Memberships

• URSI (since 2010), Full Member
• SPIE (since 2010), Senior Member
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (since 2003)
• IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (since 2003)
• IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (since 2003)
• IEEE Communications Society (since 2003)
• Optical Society of America (since 2007)
• American Association for the Advancement of Science (since 2007)
• Italian Society of Electromagnetics (since 2003)

Publications Summary

3 thesis dissertations, 15 book chapters, 154 peer-reviewed journal papers, 272 peer-reviewed conference paper proceedings and abstracts, 30 invited lectures. Co-inventor of 3 patents.

Research Consultant

• Matter, Inc.
• Southwest Research Institute
• Eureka Aerospace