Anthony Grbic receives U-M Faculty Recognition Award

Prof. Anthony Grbic received a 2018 University of Michigan Faculty Recognition Award for outstanding achievement in scholarly research, excellence as a teacher, advisor and mentor, and distinguished service to the institution and profession.

Grbic’s research interests lie in the broad fields of electromagnetics and optics. He is a world leader in the development of metamaterials and metasurfaces — artificial materials and surfaces with electromagnetic properties beyond those found in nature. His pioneering work has led to ultra-thin optical devices with revolutionary capabilities and to development of new opportunities in the miniaturization of antennas and other applications that require minute optical elements, including labs-on-a-chip, ultra-thin cameras, and biomedical optics.

The first to create a metamaterial superlens that surpassed the resolution limitations of conventional lenses, Grbic also helped develop circuit-based metamaterials resulting in transformative electromagnetic devices. He co-invented near-field plates, surfaces that can confine electromagnetic energy to extreme subwavelength resolutions, an innovation expected to lead to lithographic systems with unparalleled resolution and improvements in wireless power transfer systems’ range and efficiency.

He was the first to create high efficiency, reflectionless metasurfaces, and introduced a pragmatic approach to developing bianisotropic metasurfaces, which could lead to antenna systems that could replace dishes and reflector-based systems.

Grbic currently advises nine graduate students, has graduated six Ph.D. students and advised eight master’s students, and has mentored more than 20 students through the Research Experiences for Undergraduates program. He has published 81 journal papers and 107 conference papers.

He served on the National Science Foundation Center for Photonics and Multiscale Nanomaterials executive committee and was a plenary speaker at the International Congress on Advanced Electromagnetic Materials in Microwaves and Optics (Metamaterials Conference).

Grbic is a Fellow of IEEE and the recipient of several awards, including a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Award, an AFOSR Young Investigator Award, and a U-M Henry Russel Award. He has also been honored as the MTT-S Outstanding Young Engineer.

Grbic joined Michigan in 2006 after receiving his master’s and Ph.D degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Toronto.

Story original published in The University Record