Cornell University School of Applied and Engineering Physics

09/15/2026

And now for a little fun...

Congratulations to Ph.D. student Zev Goldhaber-Gordon and the rest of the winning team!

A motley crew of mostly Cornell University graduate students and scientists from across different STEM programs won the History Center in Tompkins County’s Treasure Hunt Sunday, taking home a prize […]

09/14/2026

Congratulations to Gregory Fuchs, the James R. Meehl Professor in the School of Applied an Engineering Physics, and Peter McMahon, two of the winners of the of the first-ever awards from the Duffield Engineering Breakthrough Fund. The fund will support projects that enhance quantum research, experiential learning, semiconductor workforce development, and AI utilization.

Fuchs will serve as a lead investigator for the diamond quantum networks project, which will advance quantum networking at Cornell by growing high-quality diamond, creating quantum bits in diamond and fabricating the photonic structures needed to connect those quantum systems with light.

McMahon will serve as a lead investigator for research on Approximate Computers for Probabilistic AI which will bring together expertise in computer architecture, applied physics, and compiler technologies to develop highly efficient but error-prone computer designs that can deliver accurate results.

Innovative projects to enhance quantum research, experiential learning, semiconductor workforce development, and AI utilization in the Cornell Duffield College of Engineering will receive the first-ever awards from the Duffield Engineering Breakthrough Fund.

09/11/2026

Congratulations to assistant professor Ankit Disa in the Applied and Engineering Physics, who won the Fiona Ip Li ’78 and Donald Li ‘75 Excellence in Teaching Award from Cornell Duffield Engineering.

09/03/2026

Using an engineered metasurface that traps light, Shivaksh Rawat, a Ph.D. candidate working with professor Gennady Shvets, is lead author on a paper that demonstrated a new way to generate strong static magnetic fields without using external magnets or magnetic materials—an approach that could advance spintronics, quantum and photonic computing, and data storage.

Using an engineered metasurface that traps light, Cornell researchers have demonstrated a new way to generate strong static magnetic fields without using external magnets or magnetic materials – an approach that could advance spintronics, quantum and photonic computing, and data storage.

08/25/2026

MARQUIS, a new Quantum Leap Challenge Institute funded by the National Science Foundation, will develop the materials and manufacturing techniques needed to build quantum processors at scale. AEP assistant professor Valla Fatemi will serve as deputy director of MARQUIS.

MARQUIS, a new Quantum Leap Challenge Institute funded by the National Science Foundation, will develop the materials and manufacturing techniques needed to build quantum processors at scale.

08/18/2026

Cornell Engineering at the leading edge of quantum computing: A team led by Valla Fatemi, assistant professor in the School of Applied and Engineering Physics in Duffield Engineering, developed a method that uses krypton gas to slash the deposition temperature of the corrosion-resistant metal tantalum, resulting in thin films that have substantially higher electronic conductivity.

Researchers developed a method that uses krypton gas to slash the deposition temperature of the corrosion-resistant metal tantalum, resulting in thin films that have substantially higher electronic conductivity.

08/05/2026

Light typically interacts with a material the same way whether it enters through the front or the back. AEP Ph.D. student, Thomas Ugras, is one of the Cornell researchers who have demonstrated a simple route to breaking that symmetry, with possibilities for photonics and quantum information processing.

Light typically interacts with a material the same way whether it enters through the front or the back. Cornell researchers have demonstrated a simple route to breaking that symmetry, with possibilities for photonics and quantum information processing.

06/26/2026

Congratulations to Valla Fatemi and Jeff Moses for winning SPROUT awards! These Cornell Duffield Engineering awards support teams of investigators with demonstrated collaborative success, typically those working on projects that have received positive reviews from outside agencies but not yet been awarded funding.

Valla Fatemi,assistant professor in the School of Applied and Engineering Physics, and Hari Nair, assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering co-led the project, "MOCVD Synthesis of Nitrides for Quantum Information Science"

Jeffrey Moses, associate professor in the School of Applied and Engineering Physics, and Robert DiStasio, Jr., associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences are co-leading a the project, "Harnessing the Atmosphere as an Adaptive Optical Medium: Towards Sensitive and Specific Remote Detection of Greenhouse Gases and Trace Contaminants"

06/23/2026

Congratulations to one of our newest faculty members, Professor Kenji Yasuda, or receiving two important awards this year.
https://vist.ly/58rr7

06/18/2026

Craig Fennie was an integral part of Applied and Engineering Physics, and we are heartbroken to report this news.

We are sorry to share the news that Craig Fennie, an associate professor in the School of Applied and Engineering Physics whose groundbreaking research opened new pathways for scientists to discover and design materials, died of a heart attack on June 14, 2026. He was 54.

“Craig’s path was unique. In many ways, he modeled our ‘any person…’ founding creed at Cornell,” said Lynden Archer, the Joseph Silbert Dean of Engineering. “He was not just known for his creative mind, but for his kindness and humanity – a brilliant, yet grounded member of our campus community. We will miss him tremendously.”

https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/06/craig-fennie-macarthur-fellow-and-materials-discovery-pioneer-dies-54