Speakers

Meet the researchers and industry leaders shaping the future of epitaxy and semiconductor manufacturing. Our confirmed speakers span universities, national initiatives, and global companies, bringing a balanced, lab-to-fab perspective on materials, devices, metrology, and scalable integration.

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Confirmed speakers (Alphabetical order)

Bin Chen
Research Associate Professor at Northwestern University and Director of Research at the Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy. His work focuses on defect control in emerging materials such as perovskites and quantum dots, with over 20,000 citations and recognition as a Highly Cited Researcher.

Hui Cai
Assistant Professor of Physics at UC Merced and Faculty Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. She specializes in quantum and 2D materials, focusing on defect, dopant, and phase engineering through chemical vapor deposition (CVD).

Umberto Celano
Associate Professor at Arizona State University and metrology lead for the DoD SWAP Hub and SHIELD USA. His research emphasizes advanced metrology techniques for 2D materials and next-generation semiconductor devices.

Jason Conrad
Chief Operating Officer of the SWAP Hub and Site Lead for MacroTechnology Works at Arizona State University. He brings over 23 years of semiconductor industry experience and leads ASU’s advanced packaging and microelectronics initiatives.

Ivan Sanchez Esqueda
Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering at Arizona State University. His research centers on 2D materials for CMOS and beyond-CMOS devices, including memristors and oxychalcogenide FETs, bridging emerging materials with device integration.

Huoqiang Fu
Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering at Arizona State University. His group advances wide and ultrawide bandgap semiconductors such as Ga₂O₃, AlN, and c-BN for next-generation power electronics, supported by multiple NSF and early career awards.

Joe Margetis
Senior Member of the Technical Staff at Applied Materials, with over 18 years in epitaxial growth and semiconductor process development. He focuses on low-temperature epitaxy for ultra-low resistivity layers in advanced CMOS logic.

Zafer Mutlu
Assistant Professor of Materials Science & Engineering at the University of Arizona and Director of the ANNLab. His research advances atomically precise graphene nanoribbon transistors for low-power, high-performance nanoelectronics.

Robert Nemanich
Regents’ Professor of Physics at Arizona State University and Director of the DOE-funded ULTRA Energy Frontier Research Center. He is a leading expert on diamond and ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors, with a distinguished record of leadership in MRS and IUMRS.

Yunbo Ou
Assistant Research Scientist at Arizona State University specializing in quantum and topological materials. His work explores magnetism in van der Waals systems, including ferromagnetism in intercalated FePS₃.

Farida Selim
Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Arizona State University. She is an internationally recognized expert in positron annihilation spectroscopy and defect studies, pioneering methods for understanding Ga₂O₃ and other oxide semiconductors.

Seth Ariel Tongay
Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Arizona State University and Chair of the MSE program. His research spans 2D semiconductors, quantum materials, and their integration into next-generation electronic and quantum devices.

Youssry Botros
Managing Director at Applied Materials and former Intel technology leader. With over 27 years of experience, he directs academic R&D strategy in AI, semiconductors, and advanced materials, building large-scale academia–industry collaborations.

About this lineup
Our speakers represent a deliberate balance of academia and industry to accelerate the transition from breakthrough research to manufacturable solutions.

Heads-up
Final talk titles and timings will be posted as they’re confirmed.