2026 Nanotechnology Council Awards Ceremony

The IEEE Nanotechnology Council announces its 2026 Award Winners. Awards were presented at its 26th IEEE International Conference on Nanotechnology (NANO 2026) held in Nanjing, China on  July 5-8, 2026.

The Pioneer, Distinguished Service,  Chapter of the Year, Best PhD Thesis,  INM Best Paper, Technical Committee, and Technical Achievement awards were featured.

PIONEER AWARD IN NANOTECHNOLOGY

The IEEE Nanotechnology Council Pioneer Award in nanotechnology is to recognize individuals who by virtue of initiating new areas of research, development or engineering have had a significant impact on the field of nanotechnology. The award is intended for people who are in the mid or late portions of their careers, i.e., at least 10 years beyond his or her highest earned academic degree on the nomination deadline date.

2025 Pioneer Award Recipient

Yu Sun
University of Toronto, Canada

Proposed Award Citation:
For pioneering contributions to robotic nanomanipulation and cell surgery.

 

 

2026 Pioneer Award Recipient

Gwo-Bin Lee
National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan

Proposed Award Citation:
“For seminal contributions to elucidating the optical and electronic properties of carbon nanotubes, graphene,2D semiconductors, and their heterostructures.”

 

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD

The Nanotechnology Council Distinguished Service Award is to recognize an individual who has performed outstanding service for the benefit and advancement of Nanotechnology Council.

2026 Distinguished Service Award Recipient

Sorin Dan Cotofana
Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

“For distinguished service, including accomplishments as an Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology and other service achievements.”

 

CHAPTER OF THE YEAR AWARD

The IEEE Nanotechnology Council (NTC) Chapter of the Year Award is intended to encourage a successful and effective overall performance of the Chapter in terms of its activities. Exemplary Chapters must have a high number of activities and creativity. 

2024 Chapter of the Year Recipient 

Shanghai Section Chapter

Chair: Weida Hu

“For outstanding efforts in fostering and strengthening research engagement among students along with a strong commitment to contributing positively to society.”

2025 Chapter of the Year Recipient

Indian Institute of Technology-Indore IEEENTC Student Branch Chapter, Bombay Section

Chair: Shaibal Mukherjee

“For exceptional dedication to advancing nanotechnology, fostering innovation, and promoting collaboration for the betterment of society.”

BEST PhD THESIS AWARD IN NANOTECHNOLOGY 

This annual award recognizes a PhD thesis in nanotechnology with remarkable technology innovation or excellence which should have led to publications in NTC venues including journals and conferences.

2025 Best PhD Thesis Award in Nanotechnology Recipient

Author: Jan Drewniak“Design and Simulation of Atomic-Scale Computing: A Comprehensive Framework for Physical Simulation, Logic Design, Logic Analysis, and Circuit Design.”

INM BEST PAPER AWARD

This award recognizes on a yearly basis a highly influential and impactful article of the highest quality published in the IEEE Nanotechnology Magazine in the preceding 2 calendar years.

2025 Best-Paper Award for the IEEE Nanotechnology Magazine Recipient

P.-K. Hsu, J. Sharda, X. Wu, H.-S. Philip Wong, and S. Yu,  “Monolithic 3D Stackable DRAM,” in IEEE Nanotechnology Magazine, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 7-16, April 2025, doi: 10.1109/MNANO.2025.3533815.

TECHNICAL COMMITTEE AWARD

Each year the Council will provide an award for the best Technical Committee (TC) for the prior year.

2025-2026 Technical Committee Award Recipient

TC 14 Nanoscale Communications

Co-Chairs: Adam Noel & Maximilian Schäfer

For contributions on technical activities.

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

This award recognizes on a yearly basis, individuals with outstanding and innovative contributions to the different areas of nanotechnology that are represented by technical committees (TCs) as organizational entities of the Nanotechnology Council (NTC), usually within the past 10 and not more than 15 years.

2025 Technical Achievement Award Recipients

Pedram Khalili
Northwestern University, Illinois, USA

“For contributions to the development of voltage-controlled magnetic tunnel junctions and their applications in computing systems.”

 

Cunjiang Yu
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA

“For contributions to stretchable, rubbery, and biointegrated electronics.”

 

 

 

 

Xinge Yu
City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

“For contributions to engineering the interfacial properties between skin and devices in wearable electronics for medical-grade precise detection.”