The IEEE recently named Professors Majeed M. Hayat and Sanjay Krishna, UNM Electrical and Computer Engineering, as IEEE Fellows.  The designation, recognized by the technical community as a prestigious honor and an important career accomplishment, is bestowed upon individuals with an outstanding record of accomplishment. 

Hayat is being recognized for contributions to the modeling of impact ionization and noise in avalanche-photodiode devices. His contributions have had a profound effect on society by vastly improving the performance of a vital component in today’s optical networks: the continual demand for more bandwidth. His research has contributed to ensuring that the consumer demand for higher data volume and speed will continue to be met.

Over a span of 23 years, Majeed Hayat has pioneered multiple, radically new probabilistic modeling techniques that drastically changed the understanding and utilization of the self-replicating behavior of impact ionization and carrier multiplication in avalanche photodiode (APD) photodetecors—semiconductor devices that are critical for high-speed lightwave systems and quantum communication

Sanjay Krishna

Krishna, director of the Center for High Technology Materials and a Regents’ Lecturer, is being recognized for contributions to infrared detectors and focal plane arrays.  Krishna’s pioneering work in infrared sensing has led to advances in areas such as space-based atmospheric sensing and the development of next generation sensors for defense applications. These sensors also have a variety of civilian uses, from helping fire fighters “see through smoke” and locate people trapped in a fire to aiding pilots looking for a landing strip during inclement weather.

By increasing the temperature at which these detectors can operate and by lowering their cost, his research is also enabling the improved and non-invasive detection of skin cancer, arthritis and diabetic neuropathy. Krishna’s work in early skin cancer detection, in particular, could save millions of lives.

About the IEEE
The IEEE is the world’s leading professional association for advancing technology for humanity. Through its 400,000 members in 160 countries, the IEEE is a leading authority on a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power and consumer electronics. Dedicated to the advancement of technology the IEEE publishes 30 percent of the world’s literature in the electrical and electronics engineering and computer science fields, and has developed more than 900 active industry standards.