Sharon Weiss was one of seven Vanderbilt professors who won a Chancellor’s Award for Research at the Fall Faculty Assembly Aug. 22.
This award recognizes excellence in works published or presented in the last three calendar years. Honorees each receive $2,000 and an engraved julep cup.
Weiss, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Electrical Engineering, received the award for her co-authored work, “Experimental Realization of Deep-Subwavelength Confinement in Dielectric Optical Resonators,” which was published in Science Advances.
“Sharon’s research on the spatial confinement of light marks an enormous leap forward in the interplay of optics and electronics,” said Interim Chancellor Susan R. Wente. “Sharon’s work has received significant praise from both technical and mainstream media outlets for its groundbreaking discoveries.”
On July 1, 2019, Weiss was appointed director of the Vanderbilt Institute of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (VINSE), one of the university’s leading trans-institutional ventures making critical contributions to science and society broadly.
Weiss’ research focuses on photonics, optoelectronics, nanoscience and technology, and optical properties of materials.
Her particular areas of interest include fundamental studies of light-matter interaction and photonic applications of nanomaterials, including the detection of small biomolecules in silicon and nanoporous silicon-based optical structures, and the ultrafast modulation of optical signals using hybrid silicon-VO2 ring resonators. Weiss also studies porous silicon nanoparticles and their applications for drug delivery.
Weiss is a fellow of the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers and the Optical Society as well as an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Photonics Society Distinguished Lecturer. She has been awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the Army Research Office Young Investigator Award and the National Science Foundation CAREER Award. In 2016, her excellence as an educator was acknowledged with the Vanderbilt School of Engineering’s Excellence in Teaching Award.