Professor Steven Koester elected Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors

Russell J. Penrose Professor in Nanotechnology Steven Koester has been elected as Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), class of 2024. The honor recognizes his exceptional achievements as an inventor and the selection committee appreciates that his contributions have made a significant impact on innovation, economic development, and society’s welfare. 

Koester’s election reflects his contributions and commitment to his field of expertise, nano-scaled electronic, photonic, spintronic and sensing devices based on emerging material systems. He holds 80 U.S. patents in semiconductor technology and nanomaterial-based sensors. His patents which span the areas of advanced MOSFET technology, heterogeneous integration in microelectronics, and biosensing indicate the impact of his work. 

Koester’s patents from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in the area of healthcare are of particular impact. 10 of his biosensor patents have been licensed by Vocxi Health a biomedical start-up company that is developing breath analyzers to aid in the diagnosis of lung cancer at an early stage when treatment is effective and survival rates are much higher. The breath analyzers are primarily based on a graphene-based capacitive biosensor (US 9,513,244) and the chemistries that make the sensors sensitive (US 11,079, 371 and 11,707,748).The latter were developed in collaboration with Professor Phil Buhlmann in the Department of Chemistry. 

Other significant inventions by Koester include the graphene-based dielectrophoretic sensors (US 10,888,875 and US (US 11,707,748) which were developed in collaboration with ECE faculty Sang-Hyun Oh (Distinguished McKnight University Professor, Sanford P. Bordeau Chair). 

Koester also made pioneering advancements in silicon-germanium (SiGe) technology during his time at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center (before joining the University). His most significant inventions from IBM are the underlying materials for high-performance p-channel transistors (US 6,350,993) and high-speed germanium photodiodes (US 7,138,697). Koester’s inventions played an important role in the commercialization of silicon-germanium transistor and germanium photodetector technologies which are now used in advanced microprocessors and optical interconnects.

Koester’s work at IBM on 3D heterogeneous integration for microelectronic chips resulted in several patents that described how to stack wafers in ways that are now regularly used in state-of-the-art graphics processing units and have supported the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI).

Prior to his election as Fellow of the NAI, Koester was made Fellow of Optica (formerly OSA) in 2022 for technical innovations in emerging optoelectronic devices, particularly those involving group-IV and 2D-material-based photodetectors and optical modulators. In 2017 he was elevated to IEEE Fellow for his contributions to group-IV electronic and photonic devices. 

Professor Steven Koester is the director of the Minnesota Nano Center. He was also recently named the first Chief Semiconductor Officer of the University of Minnesota. Prior to joining the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in 2010, he was a research staff member at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center. He has authored or co-authored over 300 technical publications and conference presentations, 7 volumes, and 4 book chapters. 

Founded in 2010, the NAI is a member organization comprising domestic and foreign universities, and government and non-profit research institutes. It has over 4,000 individual inventor members and Fellows spanning more than 250 institutions worldwide. Its goal is to “recognize and encourage inventors with patents issued from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, enhance the visibility of academic technology and innovation, encourage the disclosure of intellectual property, educate and mentor innovative students, and translate the inventions of its members to benefit society.”