Education
Bryn Mawr College.
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Naomi Halas
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She has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2009), National Academy of Sciences (2013) and National Academy of Engineering (2014). She is a Fellow of five professional societies: the Optical Society, the American Physical Society, the International Society for Optical Engineering (International Society for Optical Engineering), the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Her current work focuses on nanoshells which her nanophotonics group is developing at Rice University.
In 1987, she was part of a team that developed a "dark pulse" soliton while working for International Business Machines Corporation. Early career
Halas received her bachelor"s degree from Louisiana Salle University in 1980.
She obtained her master"s degree from Bryn Mawr College in 1984 and her doctorate from Bryn Mawr in 1986. She was working for International Business Machines Corporation in 1987 when she developed a "dark pulse" soliton with Dieter Kroekel, Giampiero Giuliani and Daniel Grischkowsky.
A "dark pulse" soliton is a standing wave that propagates through an optical fiber without spreading and which consists of a short interruption of a light pulse. Nanoshells
Halas was recruited to Rice University by the mid-1990s where she now heads the Nanoenginering Unit bearing her name.
Her work in the 21st century focuses on noble metal nanoshells covering semiconducting or insulating cores.
A nanoshell is a 100 nanometer spherical shell of metal (often gold) surrounding a core of silicon dioxide atoms. Halas"s unit is investigating the special properties of nanoshells including:
a potential treatment for cancer similar to chemotherapy but without the toxic side-effects;
inexpensive, quick analysis of samples as small as a single molecule. Halas has received a "Cancer Innovator" from the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs of the United States Department of Defence.
The Department of Defence granted Halas and Doctor Jennifer West $3 million to conduct research into the potential of this treatment.
Nanotechnology Now awarded Halas and West the award for Best Discovery of 2003.
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