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DR. SAJEEV JOHN
Photonic bandgap crystal.
Toronto, Ontario
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Sajeev John’s research on the Photonic Bandgap Crystal paves the way for better, faster and perhaps unprecedented optical devises such as all-optical micro-transistors, optical wavelength converters and other components for optical microchips.
He is a University Professor at the University of Toronto and Canada Research Chair holder.
He received his Bachelors degree in physics in 1979 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. in physics at Harvard University in 1984.
His Ph.D. work at Harvard introduced the theory of classical wave localization in disordered systems and in particular the localization of light in strongly scattering dielectrics.
From 1984 –1986 he was an NSERC postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania as well as a laboratory consultant to the Corporate Research Science Laboratories of Exxon Research and Engineering from 1985-1989.
From 1986-1989 he was an assistant professor of physics at Princeton University. While at Princeton, he co-invented (1987) the concept of photonic band gap materials.
He was a laboratory consultant to Bell Communications Research (Red Bank, NJ) in 1989.
In the fall of 1989 he joined the senior physics faculty at the University of Toronto. He has been a principal investigator for Photonics Research Ontario, a Canadian center of excellence and is an associate member of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.
His current research interests include photonic band gap materials and high Tc superconductivity.
In 1995, Dr. John received the Herzberg Medal of the Canadian Association of Physicists.
In 1996, he received the first ever McLean Fellowship of the University of Toronto.
In 1997 he received the Canada-wide Steacie Prize in Science and Engineering awarded by the National Research Council of Canada.
He has also received the Killam Fellowship of the Canada Council, the Guggenheim Fellowship (USA), the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellowship, and the Humboldt Senior Scientist Award (Germany).
Most significantly, Professor John is the winner of the 2001 King Faisal International Prize in Science.
He is also the first ever winner of Ontario’s Platinum Medal for Science ($1 million research prize) in 2002.
