The Institute for Energy Efficiency Expands its Scope — and Pulls in SSLEEC
When John Bowers, inaugural director of the Institute for Energy Efficiency (IEE) at UC Santa Barbara, retired in June, Steven DenBaars, professor of materials and electrical engineering and a longtime IEE affiliate who has served as co-director (with Shuji Nakamura) of the Solid State Lighting and Energy Electronics Center (SSLEEC) at UCSB since its founding twenty-five years ago, became the new IEE director. One of his first actions has been to increase the number of IEE research themes from three to six and to begin the process of folding SSLEEC into IEE. He spoke with us in October.
Q: I would imagine that this is an exciting time for you, as you become the director of the IEE, and SSLEEC becomes part of the IEE.
Steve DenBaars: Yes, it is. There is change, and I'm excited to serve as IEE director. The transition feels quite natural, because I have been deeply involved with the institute, and John Bowers and I have led a seed-grant effort on LED lighting since IEE was founded fifteen-plus years ago.
Q: The IEE was established on three “pillars” of research: Computing and Communications; Food, Energy, Water; and Societal Infrastructure? These have been updated, correct?
SDB: Yes, we will now have six areas of focus, called IEE New Research Themes. They are Energy Efficient Photonics and Electronics, AI and Machine Learning, Energy Efficient Quantum Technologies, AI-Informed Computing and Architectures and Systems, Efficient Energy Storage, and Energy Analysis and Policy.
Q: Can you talk about the importance of adding quantum as a New Research Theme?
SDB: Quantum materials and quantum energy systems are important not only because of the promise of quantum in terms of energy efficiency, but also because it is a new strength at UCSB [site of the first NSF Quantum Foundry, established in 2019]. As you know, UCSB just got two new Nobel Prizes in physics related to quantum discoveries, which went to John Martinis [who served as chief scientist for the fifty-three-qubit processor, called Sycamore, which Google used to demonstrate quantum supremacy] and Michel Devoret, a world-renowned quantum physicist who came to UCSB from Yale in 2024 [and currently plays a leading role in the continuing developing Google’s quantum computer]. That’s pretty exciting, and while the award was for work that came out of the Physics Department, it was actually done in the College of Engineering clean room [the Nanofabrication Facility in the Engineering Science Building]. Quantum research spans more than engineering. It involves the Physics Department, the Chemistry Department, and the Materials Department. We even have people from Political Science in IEE to help with policy. It’s very broad.
Q: What are the reasons behind incorporating SSLEEC into IEE?
SDB: I've worked in both centers, and IEE is bigger, almost like a department, and has a broader scope. SSLEEC is an organized research unit [ORU] that has been under the Materials Department but is actually more closely aligned with IEE research, so it felt natural to bring it into IEE, given the synergies and the overlap of their missions. Further, both institutes have spun out numerous companies in photonics, electronics, and materials in general. More than twenty-nine companies have spun out of the UCSB clean room, and that has produced a lot of jobs for the area. Some of these companies remain local, but a lot of them also went to the Bay Area and became much bigger. Through those companies and the many students who have been trained in IEE-affiliated research, we've had a global impact.
Q: SSLEEC operates on a consortium model based on collaboration with industry partners. Do you expect to see IEE move into that kind of model?
SDB: We do expect to have other thrusts within IEE that can work with an industry-consortium model, which can support patents in a slightly different way than how the university does it. I'm hoping to get consortium models organized around new IEE initiatives in energy-efficient data centers, batteries, and quantum systems. Patents are another form of publication that help to disseminate the technology while also returning some funds to the university, which can make it possible to fund other things. SSLEEC has a very large patent portfolio, generating about fifteen to twenty patents every year. We’ve had patents that generated over a million dollars, and several that have surpassed four hundred thousand dollars. I'm hoping that IEE can develop some of these consortium models or other models that will enable researchers to file more patents more easily.
Q: Do you see a particular value in bringing SSLEEC into IEE in light of the recent changes in federal research funding?
SDB: Bringing SSLEEC into the IEE helps to unify the mission and reduce some of the funding necessary to run SSLEEC. Further, moving toward more of an industry-funded model provides some immunity to the kind of fluctuations in federal funding that we're experiencing right now.
Q: Henley Hall has been gradually filling up since being completed in 2020. Will it house the new research areas, and how were the final six areas of focus chosen?
SDB: Choosing the New Research Themes was done in collaboration with the thrust leaders and past leaders from several departments: Physics, Chemistry, most if not all of the COE departments, and all of the major physical sciences. Fortunately, there was space in Henley Hall to accommodate these new thrusts, and now, most of the remaining space in the building has been filled. I really have to thank Jeff and Judy Henley, again, for donating the lion’s share of the endowment for that very important building, which gave us the opportunity to grow and combine some of these strengths of UCSB.
Q: IEE has been home for a lot of heavy hitters, including Bowers, Mishra, James Speck, and Chris Van de Walle. How has it been to work with these colleagues through the years?
SDB: The first thing to say is that John Bowers, who has had a tremendous global impact in photonics and electronics and done pioneering work in the field of silicon photonics, which is now being deployed in data centers and long-distance communication, really established IEE. If you Google silicon photonics, John’s name is number one on the list, and IEE has had a tremendous role in that. Shuji, Jim Speck, (COE dean) Umesh [Mishra], Chris Van de Walle — it's been great working with these guys, and they have had, and continue to have, a profound global impact. I’ve worked extensively with John Bowers, whom I initially came to UCSB to work with on indium phosphide and silicon photonics. About five years after I arrived was when Shuji had a breakthrough working with gallium nitride to develop the blue LED. At that point, I switched almost entirely to that material system, of which UCSB became the world leader.
