Electrical Engineering Researchers Win Top Awards

SEAS doctoral student, Stephanie Tomasulo, and postdoctoral associate, Jordan Lang were among top researchers recognized at the recent IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC) in Tampa, Florida. The conference is considered the premier technical conference covering all aspects of PV technology from basic material science to installed system performance with more than 600 posters, 290 oral presentations, and 2,000 attendees.

Stephanie Tomasulo, a fourth year graduate student in Electrical Engineering, received a best student presentation prize for “2.19 eV InGaP solar cells on GaP substrates,” her research that seeks to integrate these types of cells into future multi-junction devices that could theoretically lead to 50% efficiency.

Jordan Lang was the recipient of the best poster prize for his research, “GaAsP solar cells on GaP/Si grown by molecular beam epitaxy” that details the production of high performance cells composed of gallium, arsenic, and phosphorus (GaAsP) on a commercially-available silicon-based substrate through a deposition process called molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The result is a cell that, when integrated onto a silicon cell, will offer far superior performance to silicon alone at a hopefully small premium in price.

Both researchers work in the lab of associate professor of electrical engineering, Minjoo Larry Lee.