Stephen Y. Chou

Joseph C. Elgin Professor of Engineering · Princeton University · company speakers →

Dr. Stephen Y. Chou is the Joseph C. Elgin Professor of Engineering at Princeton University and a serial entrepreneur. He is the founder and founding chairman of Nanonex Corp., NanoOpto Corp., and Essenlix Corp., and a co-founder of BioNano Genomics Inc. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, and a recipient of the IEEE Cledo Brunetti Award, the IEEE Nanotechnology Pioneer Award, and the Nanoimprint Pioneer Award. He is also a Fellow of the Packard Foundation, IEEE, AVS, ISNM, and OSA. Two of his technologies—nanoimprint and the nanochannel DNA analyzer—were recognized by MIT Technology Review as among the “Ten Emerging Technologies That Will Change the World.” Over the past four decades, Dr. Chou’s pioneering research has advanced nanofabrication, nanodevices, bioengineering, and medical diagnostics, with broad, significant, and lasting impact on both academia and industry. His work created new research fields, new industries, and significant businesses, and generated billions of dollars in economic value. His best-known inventions include nanoimprint, a new paradigm in nanopatterning that has grown into a billion-dollar industry; the single-electron MOS memory (SEMM); gate-all-around (GAA) transistor; lithographically induced self-assembly (LISA); single-domain patterned media, a new paradigm for magnetic data storage; major advances in nanophotonics, particularly various subwavelength optical elements (i.e., meta-optics); the nanochannel single-DNA-molecule analyzer; the ultrasensitive D2PA biosensor; and the iMOST (Instant Mobile Self-Test) platform, a game-changing instant mobile self-test technology for health. As a serial entrepreneur, Dr. Chou has founded, built, and led three startup companies to translate his inventions and vision—including nanoimprint and iMOST—into new industries and major commercial products with direct and substantial impact on society and the economy. He has authored more than 700 journal and conference papers and is the primary inventor on more than 400 patents, more than half of which have been granted.

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