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Since joining the Boston College physics department in 2006, associate professor Willie J. Padilla has drawn praise for his work on aspects of condensed matter. In 2007 he was chosen by the Office of Naval Research as a member of the Young Investigator Program, which funds research by individuals who “show exceptional promise for creative study.” Padilla’s current research focuses on metamaterials, composite structures whose subatomic architecture endows them with electromagnetic properties not found in nature. In early November, the White House announced that Padilla had been chosen as a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. Physics department chairman Michael Naughton described Padilla’s work as “highly interdisciplinary. . .looking into areas like biomedical uses of metamaterials.”
On November 22, Padilla worked in his Higgins Hall laboratory with undergraduate and graduate students, including Ph.D physics students Xianliang Liu (left) and David Shrekenhamer.