Alexander A. Balandin is a distinguished professor and vice chair for graduate education at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he holds the prestigious Fang Lu Endowed Chair in Engineering. He directs both the Phonon Optimized Engineered Materials (UCLA POEM) Laboratory and the Brillouin-Mandelstam Spectroscopy (BMS) Laboratory at the California NanoSystems Institute, establishing UCLA as a global hub for phononics research. Prior to his current position, he served as founding chair of the Materials Science and Engineering program and director of the Nano-Fab at the University of California, Riverside, demonstrating exceptional leadership in academic program development. Balandin received his Diploma in Applied Physics from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and earned his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame, building a foundation that would propel him to international prominence in materials science.
Professor Balandin is internationally recognized for his pioneering investigation of acoustic phonons and thermal conductivity in graphene and few-layer graphene, which revolutionized understanding of heat transport in two-dimensional materials and established the field of graphene thermal management. His groundbreaking work led to the introduction of the first thermal applications of graphene and the development of the concept of phonon engineering, fundamentally changing approaches to thermal management in nanoelectronics. Most notably, he invented the optothermal technique for measuring thermal conductivity of 2D materials by converting a Raman spectrometer into both a heater and temperature sensor, a method that has since become the standard procedure in laboratories worldwide. These transformative contributions earned him the prestigious MRS Medal for his experimental discovery and theoretical explanation of graphene's unique heat conduction properties, cementing his status as a definitive leader in thermal transport research.
As a highly influential figure in materials science, Balandin serves as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Applied Physics Letters and has been recognized with numerous honors including the Brillouin Medal from the International Phononics Society and the IEEE Pioneer of Nanotechnology Award. He is a Fellow of multiple prestigious societies including the Materials Research Society, American Physical Society, IEEE, Optical Society of America, SPIE, and AAAS, reflecting his broad impact across disciplinary boundaries. His current research focuses on advancing understanding of 1D and 2D van der Waals quantum materials, charge-density-wave materials, and their applications in next-generation electronic devices. Through his leadership in developing innovative spectroscopy techniques and mentoring the next generation of materials scientists, Balandin continues to shape the future of thermal management technologies and nanoscale electronic materials worldwide.
