RICHARDSON, Texas (Feb. 14, 2002) - Dr. Leo Esaki, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1973 in recognition of his pioneering work on tunneling in solids and discovery of the tunnel diode, will be on The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) campus Feb. 23 to deliver the first Chinese Institute of Engineers/UTD Distinguished Lecture.

Founded more than 80 years ago, the Chinese Institute of Engineers (CIE) is the oldest and most prestigious Chinese-American professional society in North America. The local chapter of CIE has more than 600 members, and many are leaders in science and technology in the Telecom Corridor.

Esaki, who currently is president of the Shibaura Institute of Technology in Japan, will give his speech, entitled “Innovation and Evolution: Reflections on a Life in Research,” at 2:30 p.m. in the Galaxy Room of the Student Union. The lecture will be free and open to the public. Esaki is coming to North Texas to receive the Distinguished Scientific and Technology Award at the National Engineers Week 2002 Asian American Engineer of the Year Award Banquet hosted by CIE. This event is by invitation only and will be held at The Renaissance Dallas North Hotel Saturday night, Feb. 23.

“CIE has been very gracious to allow time in Dr. Esaki’s schedule for this lecture on campus,” said Dr. Da Hsuan Feng, vice president for research and graduate education at UTD. “It is quite an honor that they are letting us share in the prestige of Dr. Esaki’s visit.”

Dr. Esaki is an IBM Fellow and has been engaged in semiconductor research at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, N.Y., since 1960. Prior to joining IBM, he worked at the Sony Corp. where his research on heavily doped Ge and Si resulted in the discovery of the Esaki tunnel diode; this device constitutes the first quantum electron device.

Dr. Eskai’s honors and awards include the Nishina Memorial Award (1959), the Asahi Press Award (1960), the Toyo Rayon Foundation Award for the Promotion of Science and Technology (1960), the Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Prize from IRE (1961), the Stuart Ballantine Medal from the Franklin Institute (1961), the Japan Academy Award (1965), the Order of Culture from the Japanese Government (1974), the American Physical Society 1985 International Prize for New Materials for his pioneering work in artificial semiconductor superlattices, the IEEE Medal of Honor in 1991 for contributions to and leadership in tunneling, semiconductor superlattices, and quantum wells. He was nominated again for the award of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics for the invention of semiconductor superlattices and quantum cascade lasers, and the development of the technique of Molecular Beam Epitaxy.

CIE/USA is a non-profit organization. The objective of CIE/USA is to promote communication and the interchange of information among engineers and scientists in the various fields of engineering science who are interested in the well being of the Chinese engineering community in the U.S. and abroad. The Chinese Institute of Engineers was founded in 1917 in the U.S. by a group of dedicated Chinese engineers who had graduated from American colleges and were trained in various industries in the U.S.