To:          Faculty and Staff, Birck Nanotechnology Center

From:      Theresa Mayer, Executive Vice President for Research and Partnerships

RE:          Kirk Director of the Birck Nanotechnology Center

Date:      December 16, 2021

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to let you know that Ali Shakouri, the Kirk Director of the Birck Nanotechnology Center, will soon begin the next phase of his career focusing on team building for large-scale extramural research programs. He will transition out of his role as director at the end of the semester.

Ali joined Purdue as director in October of 2011 to lead one of the most advanced nanotechnology facilities on a university campus anywhere in the world.  Under his leadership, the Birck Nanotechnology Center has grown beyond its original focus areas of nanoelectronics, photonics, and quantum science, to support a wide array of multidisciplinary nanotechology research and outreach on campus, including biotechnology, nanomedicine, pharma manufacturing, printed electronics and sensors. Today, Birck is home to 58 faculty research groups from eight schools and department across five colleges at Purdue. Additionally, more than 300 researchers from inside and outside of Purdue leveraged the state-of-the-art capabilities of the Scrifres Nanofabrication Laboratory and the other shared user facilities in Birck last year. This propelled external research expenditures that are credited to Birck to a record $30M in the last fiscal year.

Over the last three years, Ali has been instrumental in engaging Birck faculty in a comprehensive study to define facilities and infrastructure needs to support for next-generation nanofabrication, materials and device characterization at Purdue. This work has helped position the university to be more competitive for federal and state funding in microelectronics and advanced packaging, quantum materials and devices, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and other critical technologies.

After the transition, Ali will continue in his position as professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the College of Engineering, and will remain an active member of the Birck Nanotechnology Center and the SMART Films Consortium. He will also continue to serve as the PI of Purdue’s partnership with the Wabash Heartland Innovation Network, which was launched with a $38.9M grant from the Lilly Endowment to fuel prosperity in 10 counties in north-central Indiana by harnessing the power of IoT sensors in digital agriculture and next-generation manufacturing.

Zhihong Chen, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will serve as the Interim Director of the Birck Nanotechnology Center until a national search for the next director concludes.

Please join me in thanking Ali for his leadership as the director of Birck for the last 10 years, and in welcoming Zhihong to this role.

Sincerely,

Theresa Mayer