Edward H. Sargent is a Canadian scientist, who serves as University Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering and Vice-President of Research and Innovation, and Strategic Initiatives at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

. He also is the

Canada Research Chair Canada Research Chair (CRC) is a title given to certain Canadian university research professors by the Canada Research Chairs Program. Program goals The Canada Research Chair program was established in 2000 as a part of the Government of Canada ...

Nanotechnology Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal o ...

. He will join the Departments of Chemistry and of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Northwestern University, and will be affiliated with the

International Institute for Nanotechnology The International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN) was established by Northwestern University in 2000. It was the first institute of its kind in the United States and is one of the premier nanoscience research centers in the world. Today, the ...

at Northwestern. Sargent has made contributions in the use of colloidal

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 ...

s and perovskite materials for optoelectronic devices, including photovoltaic cells, photodetectors, and light emitting materials. Sargent has also published in the area of electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide. Sargent has been honored with multiple awards for his research, including a Killam Prize for Engineering in 2020, the NSERC Brockhouse Award in Interdisciplinary Research and Engineering with Shana Kelley in 2016, and the

Steacie Prize The Steacie Prize is a scientific prize awarded to a person of 40 years or younger who has made notable contributions to research in Canada. It was first awarded in 1964, to Jan Van Kranendonk, and it has since been given annually. The award is nam ...

in 2012. He is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering,

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 ...

and the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

Education

Sargent spent several summers in the early 1990s working on

quantum well laser A quantum well laser is a laser diode in which the active region of the device is so narrow that quantum confinement occurs. Laser diodes are formed in compound semiconductor materials that (quite unlike silicon) are able to emit light efficientl ...

s at Nortel. He studied Engineering Physics at

Queen's University at Kingston Queen's University at Kingston, commonly known as Queen's University or simply Queen's, is a public research university in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Queen's holds more than of land throughout Ontario and owns Herstmonceux Castle in East Suss ...

, earning his B.Sc.Eng. in 1995. Sargent then conducted graduate studies in Electrical and Computer Engineering, in the area of Photonics, at the

, with Prof. Jingming Xu. He graduated with his Ph.D. in 1998.

Career

Sargent began his independent research career at the

as an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in 1998. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2002, and full Professor in 2005. In 2015, Sargent was appointed as University Professor, the University of Toronto's most distinguished rank. Sargent has also held multiple administrative roles within the University of Toronto. From 2009 to 2012, he served as Associate Chair of Research, for the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He was the Vice-Dean, Research for the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering from 2012 to 2016. Sargent served as the Vice-President, International for the University of Toronto from 2016 to 2020, helping to recruit new international graduate student researchers. Since 2020, he has served as the Vice-President, Research and Innovation, and Strategic Initiatives. Sargent has held several visiting professorships. From 2004 to 2005, he was a Nanotechnology and Photonics Visiting Professor at th
MIT Microphotonics Center
In 2013 he was a Fulbright Visiting Professor at UCLA. In fall of 2017, he was a Somorjai Visiting Miller Professor at UC Berkeley, and in April 2018 he was a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Rowland Institute at Harvard University. In 2005, he published for the general public about nanotechnology and its applications in everyday life, ''The Dance of Molecules: How Nanotechnology is Changing Our Lives''.

University spin-offs

Sargent has also co-founded several university spin-off companies. In 2006, he founded InVisage Technologies, which was acquired by Apple in 2017. With Prof. Shana Kelley, Sargent co-founded Xagenic in 2010, a molecular diagnostics company. Xagenic was partially acquired in 2018 by the General Atomics - Electromagnetic Systems Group (GA-EMS). With Dr. Sjoerd Hoogland, Sargent also co-founde
QD Solar
in 2014, which aims to develop tandem solar cells using perovskites and quantum dots.

Awards and memberships

Sargent has been honored with multiple awards and learned society memberships for his research, including: *Fellow of the

since 2009 * Fellow of the

since 2011 * Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering since 2014 * Awarded an NSERC Silver Medal in 1999 * D. N. Chorafas Foundation Award in 2000 * Outstanding Engineer Award of the IEEE Canada in 2002 * Named a Top 20 Researcher Under Age 40 by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research in 2002 * Named a TR100 Innovator Under 35 by the MIT Technology Review in 2003 * Named one of Canada's Top 40 Under 40 for 2003-2004 * Named a member of the '' Scientific American'' 50 for 2004-2005 * Named a KAUST Global Research Partnership Investigator in 2008 * Awarded the Steacie Prize in 2012 * Awarded the NSERC Brockhouse Award in Interdisciplinary Research and Engineering with Shana Kelley in 2016 * Awarded a Killam Prize for Engineering in 2020

Personal life

Sargent is married to fellow University of Toronto Professor Shana Kelley. They met at a nanotechnology conference at UC Irvine, and have two children together.

References

External links

Google Scholar Page for Edward Sargent
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sargent, Edward H. Living people Academic staff of the University of Toronto University of Toronto alumni Queen's University at Kingston alumni Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows of the IEEE Fellows of the Canadian Academy of Engineering Year of birth missing (living people)