Rice University News & Media Relations

Electrical and Computer Engineering         URLs       Laboratory for Nanophotonics     Contact Information       halas@rice.edu 713-348-5611     Media Contact       Jade Boyd 713-348-6778 jadeboyd@rice.edu     Photo & Links   Nanorice images     Nanoshell images     Plasmon transfer     Nanoshells FAQ     Photos of Dr. Halas     News Articles   'Invisibility Cloak' Directs Light Away From Eye Discovery News     Remotely activated nanoparticles destroy cancer Technology Review     Best & Brightest 2006: An Esquire investigation into people who are really good at what they do Esquire     Nanoshells could aid in cancer detection Earth & Sky     Two-dimensional Light Physics News Update     NOVA Profile: Naomi Halas NOVA scienceNOW     Shining a light on cancer research National Cancer Institute     Heat is on cancer Washington Post     News Releases   Nanocups brim with potential     Halas makes Esquire's 'Best & Brightest' list     Rice Scientists Unveil 'Nanoegg'     Rice scientists make first nanoscale pH meter     Rice University researchers create 'nanorice'     Rice researchers gain new insight into nanoscale optics     Rice Laboratory for Nanophotonics gets $3M training grant     Study shows nanoshells ideal as chemical nanosensors     Nanoshells Cancer Treatment Proves Effective in First Animal Test     Light and Nano: Quantum Mechanics vs. Classical Optics

Naomi Halas Stanley C. Moore Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering; Director of the Laboratory for Nanophotonics; Professor of Chemistry Bio Statement: Dr. Halas is the Stanley C. Moore Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Director of the Laboratory for Nanophotonics and Professor of Chemistry at Rice University. She is best known as the inventor of nanoshells, a new class of multi-layered nanoscale particles that have unique optical properties of wide interest in optics, biomedicine, materials science and other disciplines.In creating nanoshells, Dr. Halas drew upon her education and training in both the natural and applied sciences. Dr. Halas joined the faculty of Rice's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in 1989 and received a joint appointment in the Department of Chemistry in 1999. Halas is a fellow of the American Physical Society, a recipient of the National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award and a four-time winner of the Rice Engineering Alumni's Hershel M. Rich Invention Award. Dr. Halas was recently named Fellow of the American Physical Society and she received the "Cancer Innovator" Award from the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs of the U. S. Department of Defense in 2003. She received her B.A. in Chemistry from La Salle College and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Physics from Bryn Mawr College. As a doctoral student, Halas worked four years at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, followed by a two-year post-doctoral appointment at AT&T's Bell Laboratories. Research Statement: To create new nanoscale objects that perform a function...to understand the physical properties of those objects, both at the microscopic and macroscopic level...to incorporate them into unique applications with societal and technological impact.