Ming C. Wu

Ming C. Wu is the Nortel Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley. He co-directs the Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center (BSAC) and the Berkeley Emerging Technologies Research Center (BETR), and is affiliated with the NSF Challenge Institute for Quantum Computation. He earned his B.S. from National Taiwan University in 1983 and Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in 1988, following a postdoctoral stint at AT&T Bell Laboratories (1988–1992) and faculty role at UCLA (1992–2004).

Research Areas:

• Silicon Photonics
• Optoelectronics
• Nanophotonics
• Optical MEMS
• Optofluidics

Prof. Wu's recent publications focus on scalable photonic systems, including wafer-scale silicon photonic switches, MEMS-based LiDAR, and quantum technologies. His work bridges fundamental research and commercialization, exemplified by co-founding OMM, Inc. (MEMS optical switches) and Berkeley Lights, Inc. (optoelectronic tweezers).

Scientific Awards:

• Paul F. Forman Engineering Excellence Award (OSA 2007)
• William Streifer Scientific Achievement Award (IEEE Photonics Society 2016)
• C.E.K. Mees Medal (OSA 2017)
• Robert Bosch MEMS Award (IEEE EDS 2020)
• Bakar Prize (UC Berkeley 2021)
• IEEE Fellow (2002)
• Packard Fellow (1992)

He leads the Integrated Photonics Laboratory, which develops technologies for optical communication, sensing, and biomedical applications.