Radiopharmaceutical therapies have the potential to revolutionize cancer treatments. Safe next-generation nuclear reactors can open the door to producing an affordable clean energy source. More efficient computing chips could lessen the energy demands created by artificial intelligence.
Three award-winning researchers who have recently joined the Tickle College of Engineering faculty are at the forefront of helping position the University of Tennessee as a leader in these respective areas. Carolyn Anderson, Laurent Capolungo, and Deep Jariwala bring an expertise to the university that will push the boundaries of innovation and perform research that changes lives.
Anderson has joined TCE as the UT-ORNL governor’s chair for nuclear medicine: radiopharmaceutical therapies. Jariwala has joined TCE as the UT-ORNL governor’s chair for quantum devices. Capolungo is a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
“We are excited to add to our world-class faculty with these three talented individuals,” said TCE Dean Matthew Mench, the Wayne T. Davis dean’s chair of the college. “All are established leaders in their respective fields and will help us build on institutional strengths and partnerships we have. The cutting-edge research they bring to our campus will help sustain the magnificent momentum the Tickle College of Engineering has established.”
Material efficiency expertise
Jariwala studies novel materials that can be used to create the chips of the future for both quantum and classical computing, sensing, and electronic devices that use AI. Jariwala seeks to make AI more efficient by improving microchips that run and train AI algorithms.
Quantum computers have the potential to do certain calculations at a pace far greater than modern chips that power AI today and potentially do it in ways that aren’t as energy intensive. Even when accounting for the energy needs of certain types of quantum computers, they are theoretically much more powerful than classical computers at solving certain types of problems.
“I think I’m one of the few people who can make new materials, translate them into devices, and actually do this at scale,” Jariwala said. “A lot of people have traditionally worked in small sample sizes in quantum materials. While they are good for basic science investigation and discovering new, interesting quantum phenomena, it’s typically very hard to make a technology out of them. I think I’m going to cross that barrier and make materials that are grown in the lab, but with tools that are compatible with electronic manufacturing or semiconductor manufacturing that translate things out.”
Jariwala will be housed within the UT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering but also has expertise in electrical and systems engineering. His joint training has allowed him to take basic discoveries in the material and electronic device spaces and commercialize them.
“I’ve done that successfully with one of my current companies that is more on the classical computing side. We’re making memory chips for current generation of AI computers, and I would like to make a similar success story out in the quantum space,” said Jariwala, the co-founder of the start-up company Agni Semiconductor. “I would like to make a contribution to materials at a device level that makes quantum computing as a technology more viable, closer to reality towards an economy-defining industry.”
Jariwala is part of the UT-ORNL Quantum Materials and Devices program, which pairs Tennessee’s world-class materials science with wafer-scale, manufacturing-compatible device engineering. The goal is for the materials discovered or characterized in Tennessee to become devices, prototypes, and products that industry can adopt.
The program is anchored by state-of-the-art, materials deposition capabilities that Jariwala is planning to install. The goal is to have a complete stack of quantum materials from superconductors to insulators to optical materials all deposited in the same facility at scale on commercial grade substrates. This capability is rare in academia and directly transferable to industry.
Jariwala’s wants to capitalize on the state’s $43 million investment into building a more robust quantum infrastructure to position Tennessee as the national leader in attracting advanced energy, quantum networking, and technology commercialization.
“Chip development expertise and infrastructure lies at the heart of any computing industry, and quantum is no different,” Jariwala said. “The East Tennessee region wants to be the leading place in the world to do research, not just on basic quantum materials, but all the way to translating it to a full quantum computing and communications platform. I see my role as someone who helps enable that to grow and shine.”
Contact
Rhiannon Potkey ([email protected])