News Story

Murphy Named IREAP Director

Clark School Associate Professor Thomas E. Murphy (electrical and computer engineering) is the new director of the Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics (IREAP) as of August 1.

Murphy studied physics and electrical engineering at Rice University, graduating with joint B.A./B.S.E.E. degrees in 1994. He then joined the NanoStructures Laboratory at MIT, where he pursued research in integrated optics and nanotechnology. He completed his M.S. degree in 1997 and his Ph.D. in 2000. In 1994, he was awarded a National Science Foundation fellowship for graduate research, and in 2000 he and his colleagues received the Lemelson-MIT student team prize for innovation in telecommunications and networking. In 2000, he joined MIT Lincoln Laboratory as a staff member in the Optical Communications Technology Group. In August 2002, he joined the faculty at the Clark School where he now serves as an associate professor in the Clark School's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and IREAP.

Murphy's research interests include nonlinear optics, optical communications, nonlinear dynamics, microwave photonics and terahertz technology. His research broadly aims to explore new devices and techniques that improve the speed, sensitivity, resolution and efficiency of optical communication and sensor systems. He is a member of the Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Xi, a senior member of the IEEE, and a recipient of the NSF CAREER and DARPA Young Faculty awards. He has been recognized for excellence in both teaching and research at UMD, having been awarded the Clark School Junior Faculty Outstanding Research Award and E. Robert Kent Outstanding Teaching Award for Junior Faculty.

Murphy has served as interim director of IREAP for the past six months.

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August 7, 2012