Adrienne Stiff-Roberts is an American electrical engineering and Jeffrey N. Vinik Professor of

Electrical and computer engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

. Her research is on novel hybrid materials for optoelectronic and energy devices.

Early life and education

Stiff-Roberts completed her bachelor's degree in physics at Spelman College in 1991. She was part of a

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

and Spelman College Women in Science and Engineering program. Through this progem, Stiff-Roberts worked as an intern at Ames Research Center during the summer. She then joined the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

, where she earned a

Bachelor of Engineering A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an academic undergraduate degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at an accredited college or university. In the UK, a Bache ...

in 1999. She moved to the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

for her graduate studies, during which she investigated

quantum dot Quantum dots (QDs) are semiconductor particles a few nanometres in size, having light, optical and electronics, electronic properties that differ from those of larger particles as a result of quantum mechanics. They are a central topic in nanote ...

photodetectors, gaining her PhD in 2004. She was a member of

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

. She was funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation Graduate Scholars Fellowship and AT&T Labs Fellowship. She was also awarded the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.

Research and career

, which she joined in 2004, Stiff-Roberts leads a lab focussed on Resonant Infrared Matrix-Assisted Pulsed Laser Evaporation (RIR-MAPLE). This is a versatile technology that has evolved from pulsed laser deposition, which offers precise control of a material's composition. The technique involves freezing a solution of molecular building blocks, then blasting them with a laser in a vacuum chamber. The laser is tuned to the molecular bonds of the frozen solvent. She is working with David Mitzi to create perovskite solar cells. Stiff-Roberts is involved with several initiatives to improve diversity within engineering. At

Stiff-Roberts runs th
Student Engineers Network, Strengthening Opportunities in Research
(SENSOR) Saturday Academy for minority students in the 8th grade. In 2017, Stiff-Roberts took part in

's celebration of Hidden Figures. She is a member of the National Society of Black Physicists. In 2019, Stiff-Roberts was promoted to be the Jeffrey N. Vinik Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Honors and awards

* 2016 Julian Abele Award for Graduate Mentor of the Year, Duke University Mary Lou Williams Center, Black Student Alliance, and Black Graduate and Professional Student Association. 2016 * 2009

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...

Early Career Award in Nanotechnology * 2008 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers,

Office of Naval Research The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is an organization within the United States Department of the Navy responsible for the science and technology programs of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Established by Congress in 1946, its mission is to plan ...

* 2007 Young Investigator Program Award, Office of Naval Research * 2006 National Science Foundation CAREER Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stiff-Roberts, Adrienne 21st-century American engineers 21st-century African-American scientists Duke University faculty Spelman College alumni University of Michigan alumni Georgia Tech alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Members of the National Society of Black Physicists 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics Recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers