Scientific Advisory Board

Thomas A. Tombrello, Ph.D. is the Chairman of the Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy at the California Institute of Technology and is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Physics. He has served as Caltech's Technology Assessment Officer since 1996. In this role, Dr. Tombrello is responsible for identifying and evaluating new and promising technologies for the Institute. From 1987 to 1989, Dr. Tombrello was Vice President and Director of Research at Schlumberger-Doll Research.

Among his many honors, Dr. Tombrello is a fellow of the American Physical Society. His research has primarily focused on applications of nuclear and ion beam physics to problems in materials science, geochemistry, and technology. Dr. Tombrello earned his B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Physics at Rice University in Houston.

Harry Atwater, Ph.D. is Chief Scientific Officer at Aonex Technologies, Inc., and is Howard Hughes Professor and Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science at the California Institute of Technology. His research interests center around fundamental and applied research in synthesis, properties and processing of materials for use in the electronic, photonic, and electro/opto/mechanical devices and circuits of the 21st century. Professor Atwater has consulted extensively for industry and government, and has actively served the materials science community in various capacities. He is as a team leader for the NREL National Thin Film Si Photovoltaics team and serves on the Director’s Review Committee, Chemistry and Materials Science Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; and the Board of Directors, Gordon Research Conferences. He has served on the Department of Energy, Office of Science, Division of Materials Sciences Visiting Committee; Stanford University Department of Materials Science and Engineering Visiting Committee; National Science Foundation Division of Materials Research Visiting Committee. He served as Chair of the Science Advisory Board for Tecstar, Inc. from 1998-2001.

Mark Davis, Ph.D. is the Warren and Katharine Schlinger Professor of Chemical Engineering and Executive Officer of Chemical Engineering at California Institute of Technology. The founder of Insert Therapeutics, Inc. and Calando Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Dr. Davis is a Member of the National Academy of Engineering and a recipient of numerous awards including the prestigious Alan T. Waterman Award, given by the National Science Foundation annually to only one scientist in the United States across all disciplines. Dr. Davis was the first engineer to win this award for his work in rationally designed materials. Dr. Davis earned his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering and holds over 25 patents, has published more than 250 papers and has presented over 400 seminars throughout the world.

Charles Patrick Collier, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Caltech. He completed postdoctoral work at UCLA. He graduated from Oberlin College in 1991, and received his Ph.D from the University of California at Berkeley in 1998. Dr. Collier is a member of the American Chemical Society and the American Physical Society, and has served as a reviewer for articles published in numerous scientific publications. He received a U.S patent in 2001, titled, “Electrically Addressable Volative Non-Volative Molecular-Based Switching Devices” for his work involved in the patent titled.

Marc W. Bockrath, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Applied Physics at Caltech. He received a B.S degree in 1993 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, his Ph.D in 1999 from the University of California at Berkeley, and completed post-doctoral research at Harvard University prior to joining the Caltech faculty. Dr. Bockrath is the author or co-author of numerous publications on subjects in the nanotechnology field, and has made a number of presentations to both domestic and international scientific associations.