Professor Lu Toh Ming : Ah Poh Man. Sg. Sadit

Sibu born Toh-Ming Lu is more famous in the USA and the world than in his homeland, Malaysia.

He was born near the end of World War II in Sibu, Sarawak.

He likes to tell people that he gew up near the tropical jungle, land of the hornbills and orang utan. He did his chores well, fishing in the Rajang river, picking wild mushrooms, digging bamboo shoots, cutting fire wood, growing vegetables and planting rubber trees.

One of his paintings.

"When night fell, while everybody in the village went to sleep, he would lie on the front steps of the house and spend most of his time staring into the sky wondering how large the universe was (and what was outside the universe, and outside and outside…) In school, he heard a rumor that physics could solve all the puzzles."

When he finished his high school education, he went to Taiwan on a scholarship, majoring in physics. He went to graduate school in the U.S. and learned quantum field theory.  After graduation, he was attracted to what Gwo-Ching Wang (his wife)  was doing, surface physics and materials science.

That was the early 80s when he entered the workforce. At that time, the U.S. was trying to revitalize the semiconductor industry and created the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), a consortium to support university research focusing on advanced chip manufacturing.

These are his credentials.

Ray Palmer Baker Distinguished Professor of Physics

Affiliation

Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy
The Center for Future Energy Systems

Education

Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Physics
M.S., Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Physics
B.S., Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, Physics

Background

1999-2005 Director, SRC Center for Advanced Interconnect Science and Technology (CAIST) (13 universities, 25 faculty, 40 graduate students)
1996-1999 Associate Director CAIST
1997 Associate Director, Center for Integrated Electronics, Rensselaer
1992-1997 Chairman, Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy,  Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
1982-present    Faculty, Department of Physics, Assistant Professor: '82-'86, Associate Professor: '86-'89, Full Professor: '89, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
1979-1982 Research Associate, Materials Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison
1979-1980 Guest Scientist, National Bureau of Standards, Washington, DC
1977-1978 Physics and Math Teacher, Catholic High School, Sibu Malaysia

Research Interests

• Nanotechnology
• Advanced Materials
• Diffraction from imperfect surfaces, overlayers, and dynamic growth fronts.
• Surface, interface, and thin film morphologies and ordering.
• Ionized cluster beam/partially ionized beam deposition of low temperature films.
• Growth and characterization of metal, ceramic, and polymeric thin films for microelectronics, photonics, and nanoelectronics applications.
• Since '82, well funded research by NSF, DARPA, ARO, AFOSR, IBM, DEC, Kodak, Martin-Marietta, GE, Intel, Sheldahl, and AT&T

Awards

• Fellow of Materials Research Society (2008)
• Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (2007) 
• Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) Faculty Leadership Award (2005)
• Williams Wiley Distinguished Faculty Award (2002)
• Fellow of American Vacuum Society (1995)
• Fellow of the American Physical Society (1994)
• Member of New York Academy of Sciences (1994)
• Rensselaer Center for Integrated Electronics Faculty Award (1993)
• Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) Invention Award (1988)
• Rensselaer Early Career Award (1986)