An assistant professor in engineering physics, Matthew Escarra used his residency to create a proposal for the NSF CAREER Award, the biggest young investigator award for junior scientists and engineers.

Matthew Escarra received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Princeton University in 2011 in the group of Prof. Claire Gmachl, where he studied quantum cascade lasers and mid-infrared optical metamaterials. He also received a certificate in Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy while at Princeton, with a focus on energy policy. He went on to complete postdoctoral training at the California Institute of Technology in the Applied Physics & Materials Science department, where he developed new approaches to high efficiency solar energy conversion in the group of Prof. Harry Atwater. He also has worked with two start-up companies, Daylight Solutions and Sentinel Photonics, and larger companies such as Shell and Dow Chemical. Matthew’s undergraduate studies were in electrical engineering at Rice University. His current research interests include low-loss photonic metasurfaces, optoelectronics from two-dimensional semiconductors, and concentrating photovoltaics that work in tandem with solar thermal power systems.