News Story

Murphy Receives DARPA Young Faculty Award

Dr. Thomas E. Murphy

ECE Assistant Professor Thomas E. Murphy was selected by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) as one of 24 rising stars in university microsystems research to receive a Young Faculty Award. Murphy and each of his fellow award recipients will receive a grant of approximately $150,000 to be used to further develop their research during the coming year.

Murphy received the funding for his research project, titled "Linearized Electro-optic Phase Modulation." Prof. Murphy's research project seeks to develop a new type of optical modulator that can be used to transmit analog signals over optical fibers, which are lighter, smaller, and less susceptible to electromagnetic interference than conventionally used coaxial cables.

DARPA’s Young Faculty Award program, sponsored by DARPA’s Microsystems Technology Office, is designed to seek out ideas from non-tenured faculty in order to identify the next generation of researchers working in microsystems technology. The selected researchers focus on concepts that are innovative, speculative, and high-risk.

“The program managers in the Microsystems Technology Office were excited and surprised by the number and quality of the research ideas submitted,” noted Henryk Temkin, DARPA’s lead program manager for the initiative. Microsystems Technology Office Director John Zolper added, “We initially only anticipated funding 10 researchers, but the identification of this many rising microsystems research stars bodes well for the U.S. to maintain its edge in advanced component technologies.”

Murphy and the 23 other researchers were selected through a three-stage, competitive process. DARPA initially received brief abstracts from approximately 150 young faculty applicants from universities all over the country. Following a review of the abstracts, DARPA invited 55 abstract authors to discuss their ideas with DARPA program managers, and learn more about the Agency. For the final selection stage, DARPA invited these researchers to submit proposals explaining their program idea in more detail.

For more information about the DARPA Young Faculty Award program, visit: http://www.darpa.mil/body/news/current/yfa.pdf.

February 21, 2007