Elsa Reichmanis, Professor and Carl Robert Anderson Chair in Chemical Engineering in Lehigh University’s P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science, has been named director of Lehigh’s Institute for Functional Materials and Devices (I-FMD), effective July 1, 2024.
She succeeds I-FMD’s founding director, Himanshu Jain, Professor and T.L. Diamond Distinguished Chair in Engineering and Applied Science, who has led the institute since 2018. Jain will be taking on a new role with the National Science Foundation (NSF) while continuing his full-time duties at Lehigh.
Reichmanis is an internationally recognized expert in the field of microlithography and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. She has made wide-ranging contributions in the design and development of polymer/organic materials and processes for advanced electronics and photonics. Her Organic Materials and Devices Lab is affiliated with I-FMD, collaborating on projects around materials for advanced energy storage and polymer/hybrid semiconductors.
I-FMD is a hub for interdisciplinary research focused on developing innovative materials and devices that address critical societal challenges, including healthcare, renewable energy, and food and water security. It integrates Lehigh’s expertise in material synthesis, fabrication, processing, and characterization to enhance the functionality of sensors, actuators, and other critical devices across various domains.
“Lehigh’s Interdisciplinary Research Institutes are communities of scholars that catalyze crucial research in areas where our institution can play a leading role on the national and international stage,” says Reichmanis. “I look forward to working with I-FMD’s forward-thinking faculty to accelerate research in renewables, nanoelectronics, material processing, biomaterials, and more.”
Reichmanis came to Lehigh in 2020, having served on the faculty of the Georgia Institute of Technology for more than a decade after a noteworthy industry career at Bell Laboratories. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, National Academy of Inventors, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Materials Research Society, the American Chemical Society, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Her accomplishments as a leader in interdisciplinary research and dedicated teacher and mentor have been recognized through numerous prestigious honors and career achievement awards.
Himanshu Jain: Making an impact at NSF
During Jain’s tenure, I-FMD has grown to include nearly 70 affiliated Lehigh faculty members, with interdisciplinary teams developing multi-PI proposals, working on numerous projects, and securing grant funding, including a $6 million grant from the NSF’s Accelerating Research Translation (ART) Program. I-FMD hosts annual workshops to spark collaborations with external academic, industry, and government partners and educate researchers on topics such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electron microscopy.
“I am thankful to the colleagues who have helped in developing I-FMD from scratch into an engine for research, development, and innovation,” says Jain. “It has been very gratifying to lead its growth, and I am happy to leave it in such capable hands.”
Jain currently leads the university’s Pasteur Partners PhD (P3) Program, a unique and active partnership with industry including private corporations, national labs, and defense and healthcare organizations that hire PhDs and deliver cutting-edge STEM applications across industry sectors.
After joining the engineering faculty in 1985, Jain spent eleven years at the helm of the National Science Foundation’s International Materials Institute for New Functionality in Glass and built a network of glass researchers in 36 countries. He is the author of 12 patents and more than 400 research publications, and he is editor or author of 10 books or special journal issues on glass science and technology. His contributions have been recognized through numerous prestigious awards, including, most recently, the N.F Mott Award from the Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids. He is also a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society.
As a result of the innovative P3 model of doctoral training that he developed together with Lehigh professors Anand Jagota and Volkmar Dierolf, Jain has been appointed as an Expert within the Division of Graduate Education, Directorate of STEM Education (EDU) at NSF. He will be primarily contributing to the development of new joint funding programs through a collaboration with the Technology Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) Directorate to train a diverse STEM graduate workforce that is well prepared for employment in industry, government, and nonprofit organizations as well as academia. While serving in this capacity, Jain will continue to support his full-time position at Lehigh.
