Joseph Jacobson (born June 28, 1965 in
Newton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of ...
), is a tenured professor and head of the Molecular Machines group at the Center for Bits and Atoms at the
MIT Media Lab
The MIT Media Lab is a research laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, growing out of MIT's Architecture Machine Group in the School of Architecture. Its research does not restrict to fixed academic disciplines, but draws from ...
, and is one of the inventors of microencapsulated electrophoretic display (known as
E Ink
E Ink (electronic ink) is a brand of electronic paper (e-paper) display technology commercialized by the E Ink Corporation, which was co-founded in 1997 by MIT undergraduates JD Albert and Barrett Comiskey, MIT Media Lab professor Joseph Jacobson ...
) commonly used in electronic devices such as
e-readers
An e-reader, also called an e-book reader or e-book device, is a mobile electronic device that is designed primarily for the purpose of reading digital e-books and periodicals.
Any device that can display text on a screen may act as an e-read ...
. He is the founder of several companies including
E Ink Corporation
E Ink (electronic ink) is a brand of electronic paper (e-paper) display technology commercialized by the E Ink Corporation, which was co-founded in 1997 by MIT undergraduates JD Albert and Barrett Comiskey, MIT Media Lab professor Joseph Jacob ...
, Gen9, Inc., and
Kovio
Kovio, Inc. was a privately held Silicon Valley technology company headquartered in San Jose, California that manufactured electronic devices based on a proprietary Printed electronics, printed silicon electronics platform.Clark, Mike"Kovio Sign ...
, is on the scientific board of several more companies (such as Epitome Biosystems).
Education and career
Jacobson received an
Sc.B. in
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which ...
at
Brown University
Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
and a
Ph.D. in physics at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of th ...
. He was a postdoctoral research associate at
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...
in experimental and theoretical nonlinear non-local quantum systems. While at Stanford, he set the world record for the shortest pulse ever generated by a laser (in optical cycles).
Jacobson first had the idea for the e-book in 1993, while working on his
postdoctoral research
A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to pu ...
in
quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, ...
.
In 1997, Jacobson along with
JD Albert,
Barrett Comiskey, Russ Wilcox and Jerome Rubin founded E Ink Corporation.
In 1999, MIT's Technology Review named Jacobson as one of the
TR100
The Innovators Under 35 is a peer-reviewed annual award and listicle published by ''MIT Technology Review'' magazine, naming the world's top 35 innovators under the age of 35. at ''Technology Review'' with lists of winners at technologyreview.com
...
, one of the most influential inventors under the age of 35. He invented
nanoparticle
A nanoparticle or ultrafine particle is usually defined as a particle of matter that is between 1 and 100 nanometres (nm) in diameter. The term is sometimes used for larger particles, up to 500 nm, or fibers and tubes that are less than 10 ...
–based ink that can print on a flexible computer processor using an inkjet printer.
He was awarded the
in 2000. In 2001, he received a Discovery magazine award for technological innovation. In 2002, he received a
National Inventors Hall of Fame
The National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) is an American not-for-profit organization, founded in 1973, which recognizes individual engineers and inventors who hold a U.S. patent of significant technology. Besides the Hall of Fame, it also oper ...
Collegiate Inventors Award. In 2013 Jacobson received the
Wilhelm Exner Medal The Wilhelm Exner Medal has been awarded by the Austrian Industry Association, (ÖGV), for excellence in research and science since 1921.
The medal is dedicated to Wilhelm Exner (1840–1931), former president of the Association, who initialize ...
. On 5 May 2016, Jacobson was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his work in developing E Ink.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobson, Joseph
1965 births
21st-century American physicists
Brown University alumni
Stanford University people
MIT School of Architecture and Planning faculty
Living people
Date of birth missing (living people)
MIT Media Lab people
MIT Department of Physics alumni