Dr. Jonathan Fan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, where he is researching new design methodologies and materials approaches to nanophotonic systems. He received his bachelor’s degree with highest honors from Princeton University and his doctorate from Harvard University. He is the recipient of the Air Force Young Investigator Award, Sloan Foundation Fellowship in Physics, Packard Foundation Fellowship, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

Optical engineering plays a major role in imaging, communications, energy harvesting, and quantum technologies. Dr. Fan's lab is exploring the next frontier of optical engineering on three fronts. The first is new materials development in the growth of crystalline plasmonic materials and assembly of nanomaterials. The second is novel methods for nanofabrication. The third is new inverse design concepts based on optimization and machine learning.