Volker J. Sorger

Volker J. Sorger is the Walden and Paula Rhines Endowed Professor in Semiconductor Photonics at the University of Florida's Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering. He leads the Photonics Group, focusing on cutting-edge research in optoelectronics, AI/ML accelerators, quantum processors, and space-qualified photonic systems. His work integrates photonics with advanced materials and chip packaging, addressing challenges in energy efficiency and scalability.

Education:

• Ph.D., University of California – Berkeley (2011)
• Management of Technology, Haas School of Business (2011)
• M.A., University of Texas (2005)

Research Interests: Devices & optoelectronics, AI/ML accelerators, mixed-signal ASICs, quantum processors, cryptography. His lab develops photonic neural networks, advanced chip packaging (2.5D/3D), and digital twins for semiconductor manufacturing. Notable projects include testing AI photonic chips on the International Space Station (launching Feb 2025).

Articles Trends: Recent work emphasizes photonic convolution neural networks, low-energy optical computing architectures, and materials like 2D semiconductors. Publications span Nature Photonics, SPIE conferences, and IEEE journals, with a focus on hardware-software co-design for AI acceleration.

Awards:

• 2024 IEEE Fellow
• 2023 Maria Goeppert-Mayer Award (SPIE)
• 2019 PECASE Award (White House)
• 2021 Highly Cited Researcher (top 0.1%)

Grants & Collaborations:

• Recipient of DURIP Awards (AFOSR/ARO)
• Principal Investigator for NASA-funded space photonics projects
• Lead of Southeast/Caribbean hub for SMART Coalition (Digital Twins for Semiconductor Manufacturing)

Labs & Teams: Photonics Group at UF collaborates with NASA, SpaceX, MIT, and industry partners. Current initiatives include radiation-resistant photonic chips and 4D printing of optical metamaterials.