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U of I to Name Micro/Nanotechnology Lab After Emeritus Professor who Created LED Light


The University of Illinois is planning to name its Micro and Nanotechnology Lab after an engineering visionary who created the first practical LED light.

Professor Emeritus Nick Holonyak Jr. is an UI engineering alumnus who studied as a graduate student under John Bardeen, a globally celebrated engineer and a two-time Nobel laureate.

UI trustees will vote next week on whether to name the UI Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory in Holonyak’s honor. Holonyak found a new alloy in 1962 that would emit light in the red segment of the visible spectrum.

Energy-saving LEDs are now universal, used in everything from flashlights and electronics to spacecraft. UI College of Engineering officials say that very few graduates in UI’s 152-year history have had as much influence as the Franklin County native.

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