About Us




Faculty Awards & Honors
Here’s an overview of some of the awards and honors received by our faculty:
- 2 Nobel Prize Laureates
- 2 National Medal of Technology and Innovation
- 1 IEEE Medal of Honor
- 5 National Academy of Sciences members
- 15 National Academy of Engineering members
- 1 American Academy of Arts & Sciences Members
- 9 National Academy of Inventors Fellows
- 41 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Fellows
- 2 Association for Computing Machinery Fellows
- 9 American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows
- 8 The Optical Society Fellows
- 4 UCSB Faculty Research Lecturers
- 10 UCSB Distinguished Teaching
- 22 NSF CAREER
- 5 NSF PYI / NYI Young Investigators
More faculty awards and honors are at the bottom of this page.
Letter from the Chair
Greetings! – We just completed a very unusual yet highly productive 2020-21 academic year. We added three new outstanding faculty members: Kerem Camsari and Bongjin Kim in Computer Engineering and Nina Miolane in Communications and Signal Processing. Our faculty’s excellence in teaching and research is recognized by major awards, including the senate distinguished teaching award and early career awards. A new AI/Machine learning instructional lab is set up with gift funds to address the growing need for computing resources in this emerging area. We had several initiatives towards enhancing diversity at all and planning recruitment activities targeting underrepresented groups. The Department received close to $27 million in extramural support during the 2020-21 academic year, continuing its tradition of exceptional research. We all are excited to be back on campus as we welcome our new undergraduate and graduate students return to a “normal” environment, noting that about half of these students are on campus for their very first in-person quarter! We look forward to another productive year — B.S. Manjunath, ECE Chair
Department Numbers
Faculty & Staff
- 43 current tenured or tenure-track faculty
- 6 Adjunct / Visiting Faculty
- 13 Affiliated Faculty
- 23 Emeritus Professors
- 2 Lecturers - 2 SOE Lecturers
- 47 Staff Members
Enrollment (Fall 2021)
- 228 Graduate
- 278 Electrical Engineering Undergraduates
- 275 Computer Engineering Undergraduates
Degrees (2020-2021)
- 55 Master's Degrees
- 32 PhD
- 65 BS Electrical Engineering
- 62 BS Computer Engineering
ECE Mission Statement
ECE has a dual mission for excellence in both education and research. These two components mutually benefit each other — Full Statement
ECE and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Research and teaching in ECE thrives most when diverse people participate. For success, we make Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion a priority — More on ECE & Diversity
Research
We attract some of the top faculty researchers from academia and industry. Our research is categorized into four focus areas – Control Systems, Communications & Signal Processing, Computer Engineering, and Electronics & Photonics. Our faculty partner their research efforts with industry, government, outside academic institutions, other UCSB departments, and within the Department.
Undergraduate Studies
We offer BS degrees in Electrical Engineering (EE) or Computer Engineering (CE). Qualified EE students may apply in their junior year for the combined BS/MS program with an MS degree either in ECE or Materials. Qualified CE students may apply for the combined BS/MS program with an MS degree in either ECE or Computer Science. A range of options are available including communications, control systems, signal processing, computer engineering, microwaves, and semiconductor devices & applications.
Graduate Studies
We offer both Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. The Department has three types of degree programs (MS, MS / PhD, or PhD) with emphases in Communications, Controls & Signal Processing, Computer Engineering, and Electronics & Photonics. One of the department's strengths is its history of collaborative and interdisciplinary research.
Invest in ECE
We invite you to invest in the Department by visiting Giving to ECE. Opportunities include:
- Unrestricted Support to the ECE Department
- Undergraduate Capstone Project Fund
- George Matthaei Undergraduate Award Fund
- Herbert Kroemer Endowed Fellowship Fund
- Roger C. Wood Endowed Fund
- Petar V. Kokotovic Distinguished Visiting Professorship
For more information contact Steve Ramirez, Sr. Dir. of Development, College of Engineering
Academic & Admin Officers
- Department Chair: ECE Professor B.S. Manjunath
- Vice Chair and Graduate Program Director: ECE Professor Clint Schow
- Vice Chair and Undergraduate Program Director: ECE Professor Luke Theogarajan
- Academic Business Officer: Robin Jenneve
Faculty w/ Endowed Chairs
• Cree Chair in Solid State Lighting and Display (Materials) - Shuji Nakamura
• Doluca Family Chair in ECE – Mark Rodwell
• Donald W. Whittier Chair in ECE – Umesh Mishra
• Fred Kavli Chair in Optoelectronics and Sensors – Larry Coldren
• Kavli Chair in Nanotechnology – John Bowers
• Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. Chair in Solid State Lighting and Display (Materials) – Steve DenBaars
• Richard A. Auhll Professorship and Dean's Chair in Engineering (CoE) – Rod Alferness
Newsletters
Faculty Honors & Awards
Nobel Prize Laureates
- Herbert Kroemer – Physics (2000) *
- Shuji Nakamura – Physics (2014)
National Medal of Tech. & Innovation
- Glenn Culler – Physics (1999) *
- Arthur Gossard – Physics (2014)
IEEE Medal of Honor
- Herbert Kroemer (2002) *
Members and Fellows
- National Academy of Sciences
-
National Academy of Sciences
- Lawrence Rabiner (1990) *
- David Auston (1991) *
- Arthur Gossard (2001)
- Herbert Kroemer (2003) *
- Evelyn Hu (2008) *
- National Academy of Inventors
-
National Academy of Inventors
- Steven DenBaars (2014)
- Shuji Nakamura (2014)
- Umesh Mishra (2015)
- John Bowers (2015)
- Larry Coldren (2016)
- Dan Blumenthal (2017)
- Rod Alferness (2018) *
- Sanjit Mitra (2019) *
- Nikil Jayant (2020)
- AAAS Fellows
-
American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows
- Venkatesh Narayanamurti (1983) *
- David Auston *
- Evelyn Hu (1998) *
- Sanjit Mitra (1982) *
- Pierre Petroff (2009) *
- Arthur Gossard (2010)
- Kaustav Banerjee (2016)
- Yuan Xie (2019) *
- John Bowers (2021)
- National Academy of Engineering
-
National Academy of Engineering
- Lawrence Rabiner (1983) *
- Arthur Gossard (1987)
- David Auston (1989) *
- Venkatesh Narayanamurti (1992) *
- Petar Kokotovic (1996) *
- Nikil Jayant (1996)
- Herbert Kroemer (1997) *
- Evelyn Hu (2002) *
- Rod C. Alferness (2003) *
- Sanjit Mitra (2003) *
- Shuji Nakamura (2003)
- Larry Coldren (2004)
- John Bowers (2005)
- Umesh Mishra (2009)
- Steven DenBaars (2012)
- IEEE Fellows
-
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Fellows
- Phillip Ordung (1959) *
- Glen Wade (1962) *
- Herbert Kroemer (1970) *
- Sanjit Mitra (1974) *
- Lawrence Rabiner (1976) *
- Petar Kokotovic (1980) *
- David Auston *
- Allen Gersho (1982) *
- Larry Coldren (1982)
- Nikil Jayant (1982)
- Venkatesh Narayanamurti (1987) *
- Adel Saleh (1987) *
- James Merz (1988) *
- Rod C. Alferness (1989) *
- Pochi Yeh (1991) *
- Jerry Gibson (1992)
- Hua Lee (1992)
- John Bowers (1993)
- Evelyn Hu (1994) *
- Umesh Mishra (1995)
- Behrooz Parhami (1997)
- Margaret Marek-Sadowska (1997) *
- Tim Cheng (2000) *
- Arthur Gossard (2001)
- Andrew Teel (2002)
- Dan Blumenthal (2003)
- Mark Rodwell (2003)
- Ken Rose (2003)
- Steven DenBaars (2005)
- U. Madhow (2005)
- B.S. Manjunath (2005)
- Nadir Dagli (2006)
- Joao Hespanha (2008)
- Bob York (2009)
- Kaustav Banerjee (2012)
- Yuan Xie (2015) *
- Peng Li (2016)
- Li-C. Wang (2017)
- Clint Schow (2017)
- Yasamin Mostofi (2020)
- James Buckwalter (2022)
- Other Fellows
-
Other Fellows
- Acoustical Society of America (ASA)
Lawrence Rabiner (1970) *
Hua Lee - American Physical Society (APS)
Pierre Petroff (1989) *
Venkatesh Narayanamurti *
Herbert Kroemer *
David Auston (1990) *
Evelyn Hu (1995) *
John Bowers (1996)
Arthur Gossard
Chris Palmstrom (2001)
Atac Imamoglu (2002) *
Elliott Brown (2007) *
Kaustav Banerjee (2014) - American Vacuum Society (AVS)
Chris Palmstrom (1999) - British Computer Society (BCS)
Behrooz Parhami (Chartered fellow – 2004) - International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC)
Petar Kokotovic (2005) *
Andrew Teel (2010)
Joao Hespanha (2017) - Materials Research Society (MRS)
Chris Palmstrom (2012) - Russian Academy of Sciences (Foreign Member)
Petar Kokotovic (2012) * - The Institution of Engineering & Technology
Behrooz Parhami (2010) - The Optical Society (OSA)
Rod C. Alferness (1984) *
David Auston *
Larry Coldren (1992)
Atac Imamoglu (2002) *
John Bowers (2003)
Dan Blumenthal (2006)
Clint Schow (2016)
Nadir Dagli (2019)
- Acoustical Society of America (ASA)
- American Academy of Arts & Sciences
-
American Academy of Arts & Sciences
- David Auston (1992) *
- ACM Fellows
-
Association for Computing Machinery Fellows
- B.S. Manjunath (2018)
- Yuan Xie (2019) *
IEEE Awards
- IEEE
-
IEEE
Medals
- Jack S. Kilby Signal Processing Medal
Lawrence Rabiner (1999) * - James H. Mulligan, Jr. Education Medal
Petar Kokotovic (2001) *
Sanjit Mitra (2006) * - Jun-ichi Nishizawa Medal
Umesh Mishra (2022)
Technical Field Awards
- Photonics Award
Rod C. Alferness (2005) *
John Bowers (2017) - Emanuel R. Piore Award
Lawrence Rabiner (co-recipient 1980) * - Control Systems Award – IEEE Control Systems Society
Petar Kokotovic (1995) * - Jack A. Morton Award (renamed Andrew S. Grove Award in 2000) – IEEE Electron Devices Society
Herbert Kroemer (1986) * - James L. Flanagan Speech and Audio Processing Award – IEEE Signal Processing Society
Allen Gersho (2007) * - David Sarnoff Award – SRI Int'l Sarnoff
Umesh Mishra (2007)
Mark Rodwell (2010)
Larry Coldren (2014) - Gustav Robert Kirchhoff Award – IEEE Circuits and Systems Society
Sanjit Mitra (2013) * - Kiyo Tomiyasu Award – Dr. Kiyo Tomiyasu, IEEE GRSS and IEEE MTT
Kaustav Banerjee (co-recipient 2015)
Other IEEE Awards
- Centennial Medal (1984)
Allen Gersho *
Behrooz Parhami
Lawrence Rabiner * - Millennium Medal (2000)
Rod C. Alferness *
Lawrence Rabiner *
Allen Gersho *
Nikil Jayant
Sanjit Mitra *
Glen Wade * - IEEE Council on Electronic Design Automation (CEDA) – Ernest S. Kuh Early Career Award
Zheng Zhang (2021) - IEEE Educational Activities Board (EAB) Vice-President's Recognition Award
Sanjit Mitra (2017) * - IEEE Region 6 Outstanding Engineer Award
Yasamin Mostofi (2013) - Bob Madge Innovation Award – IEEE Test Technology Technical Council (TTTC)
Wang (2017) - IEEE Nanotechnology Council (NTC) Distinguished Lecturer
Strukov (2019)
- Jack S. Kilby Signal Processing Medal
- IEEE Society
-
IEEE Society
Computer Society
- Seymour Cray Computer Engineer Award
Glen Culler (2000) * - Edward J. McCluskey Technical Achievement Award
Yuan Xie (2020) *
B.S. Manjunath (2020)
Circuits and Systems Society (CAS)
- Mac Van Valkenburg Award
Sanjit Mitra (1999) *
Control Systems Society (CSS)
- Hendrik W. Bode Lecture Prize
Petar Kokotovic (1991) * - Antonio Ruberti Young Researcher Prize
Joao Hespanha (2009)
Yasamin Mostofi (2016)
Education Society
- McGraw-Hill / Jacob C. Millman Award
Sanjit Mitra (2001) *
Electron Devices Society (EDS)
- J. J. Ebers Award
Herbert Kroemer (1973) * - Distinguished Lecturer (Region 6)
Kaustav Banerjee (2008)
Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S)
- Distinguished Educator Award
Umesh Mishra (2017) - Microwave Prize
Mark Rodwell (1997) - Outstanding Young Engineer Award
Bob York (2004)
Jim Buckwalter (2015)
Photonics Society
- Aron Kressel Award
Larry Coldren (2009)
Steven DenBaars (2010) - William Streifer Scientific Achievement Award
John Bowers (1996) - John Tyndall Award
Larry Coldren (2004)
John Bowers (2012)
Signal Processing Society (SPS)
- Technical Achievement Award
Lawrence Rabiner (1978) *
Sanjit Mitra (1996) * - Society Award
Lawrence Rabiner (1980) *
Sanjit Mitra (2001) * - Education Award
Sanjit Mitra (1989) *
- Seymour Cray Computer Engineer Award
More Awards
- Societies
-
Other Societies
American Physical Society (APS)
- Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize
Arthur Gossard (co-recipient 1984) - James C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials
Arthur Gossard (2001) - David Adler Lectureship Award in the Field of Materials Physics
Chris Palmstrom (2018)
Acoustical Society of America (ASA)
- R. Bruce Lindsay Award (formerly the Biennial Award)
Lawrence Rabiner (1974) *
The Optical Society (OSA)
- Holonyak Award
John Bowers (2009)
Larry Coldren (2017) - Robert E. Hopkins Leadership Award
Rod C. Alferness (2010) * - Frederic Ives Medal/Jarus W. Quinn Prize
Rod C. Alferness (2018) * - C.E.K. Mees Medal
Daniel Blumenthal (2020)
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM)
- Activity Group on Control and Systems Theory (SIAG/CST) Prize
Andrew Teel (1998)
The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS)
- John Bardeen Award
Arthur Gossard (2005)
- Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize
- Fellowships
-
Fellowships
- DoD National Security Science and Engineering Faculty (NSSEFF)
Chris Palmstrom (2015) - Hellman Fellows Fund
Michael Liebling (2011)
Katie Byl (2012)
Dmitri Strukov (2013)
Jon Schuller (2014)
Yon Visell (2017) - JSPS Invitation Fellowship (Short-Term), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Kaustav Banerjee (2013) - Marie Curie Fellowship
Jonathan Klamkin (2012) - NATO Science Fellowship
Nadir Dagli - Sloan Research Fellowship
Katie Byl (2011) - DARPA Director’s Fellowship
Jonathan Klamkin (2020)
- DoD National Security Science and Engineering Faculty (NSSEFF)
- Early Career
-
Early Career
- ACM-SIGDA Outstanding New Faculty Award
Kaustav Banerjee (2004) - Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) – Young Investigator Award
Jason Marden (2012)
John Schuller (2013)
Galan Moody (2020) - Army Research Office (ARO) Young Investigator Award
Bob York (1993) - Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Young Faculty Award
James F. Buckwalter (2007)
Jonathan Klamkin (2018)
Loai Salem (2019) - IEEE Magnetics Society Early Career Award
Kerem Camsari (2021) - NASA Early Career Faculty Space Technology Research Grant
Jonathan Klamkin (2014) - NASA Early Stage Innovation (ESI)
Jonathan Klamkin (2018) - National Institutes of Health (NIH) – New Innovator Award
Luke Theogarajan (2010) - National Science Foundation (NSF) – Faculty Early CAREER Development Award
Louise Moser (1990) *
Andrew Teel (1995)
Bob York (1995)
U. Madhow (1996)
Shiv Chandrasekaran (1998)
Atac Imamoglu (1995) *
Joao Hespanha (2001)
Edward Chang (2002) *
Volkan Rodoplu (2007) *
Yuan Xie (2006) *
Peng Li (2008)
Yasamin Mostofi (2009)
Pradeep Sen (2009)
Luke Theogarajan (2011)
James K. Buckwalter (2011)
Katie Byl (2013)
Jason Marden (2014)
John Schuller (2015)
Yon Visell (2018)
Mahnoosh Alizadeh (2019)
Zheng Zhang (2019)
Galan Moody (2021) - NSF Young Investigator Award
Hua Lee – NSF / PYI (1985)
John Bowers – NSF / PYI (1988)
Mark Rodwell – NSF / PYI (1989)
Umesh Mishra – NSF / PYI (1989)
Steven DenBaars – NSF / NYI (1994) - NSF Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)
Dan Blumenthal (1999)
Yasamin Mostofi (2011)
Spencer Smith (2019) - NSF – Research Initiation Award
Jerry Gibson (1974)
Ali Sayed *
John Shynk (1993)
Atac Imamoglu (1994) *
Roy Smith *
Andrew Teel (1993) - ONR Young Investigator Award
Bob York (1996)
Jason Marden (2015)
Kerem Camsari (2022) - Photonics & Electromagnetics Research Symposium (PIERS) Conf. Young Scientist Award
Jonathan Klamkin (2019)
- ACM-SIGDA Outstanding New Faculty Award
- Industry
-
Industry
- Google Faculty Research Award
Yon Visell (2015)
Dmitri Strukov (2016) - Heinrich Welker Award – Siemens AG
Umesh Mishra (2012) - IBM Faculty Award
Kaustav Banerjee (2008)
Yuan Xie (2008) * - IBM Ph.D. Fellowship
James K. Buckwalter (2004) - Northrop Grumman Excellence in Teaching Award
Luke Theogarajan (co-recipient 2011)
Michael Liebling (co-recipient 2014)
Mahnoosh Alizadeh (co-recipient 2018)
Yoga Isukapalli (co-recipient 2020) - Packard Fellowships for Science and Engineering
Atac Imamoglu (1996) * - Semiconductor Research Corporation – Technical Excellence Award
Li-C Wang (2010)
- Google Faculty Research Award
- UC System & UCSB
-
U. of California & UCSB
U. of California Systemwide
- Outstanding Faculty Leadership in Presidential Initiatives
David Auston (2015) *
UC Santa Barbara
- Faculty Research Lecture Award
Herbert Kroemer (1984-1985) *
Evelyn Hu (2004-2005) *
John Bowers (2012-2013)
Umesh Mishra (2017-2018)
- Distinguished Teaching Award
Glen Wade (1978) *
John Skalnik (1986) *
Hua Lee (1988)
Roger Wood (1989) *
Nadir Dagli (1990)
John Shynk (1992) *
Alan Laub (1993) *
Evelyn Hu (1999) *
Steve Butner (2007) *
Yogananda Isukapalli (2021)
- Outstanding Faculty Leadership in Presidential Initiatives
- Other Awards
-
Other Awards
- Academia Nacional de Engenharia (ANE)
Sanjit K. Mitra (2021) * - American Association for Advances in Functional Materials – AAAFM–Nakamura Award
Steven DenBaars (2021) - American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Newcomb Cleveland Prize
Arthur Gossard (2005 & 2006) - Alexander von Humboldt Foundation – Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award
Kaustav Banerjee (2011) - American Automatic Control Council (AACC)
Richard E Bellman Control Heritage Award
Petar Kokotovic (2002) *
Donald P. Eckman Award
Andrew Teel (1999)
Jason Marden (2012) - Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) Award (DOD & AFOSR)
Galan Moody (2021) - Electrostatic Discharge Association (ESD) Research Grant Award
Kaustav Banerjee (2005 and 2011) - Indium Phosphide and Related Materials (IPRM) Award
John Bowers (2021) - International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) – Georgio Quazza Medal
Petar Kokotovic (1990) * - International Symposium on Compound Semiconductors (ISCS) – Quantum Devices Award
Steven DenBaars (2021) - NSF Director's Award for Distinguished Teaching Scholars
Evelyn Hu (2005) *
- Academia Nacional de Engenharia (ANE)
* No longer active in the Department