Zhang Baile Named One of Top 35 Innovators Under 35
Assistant Professor Zhang Baile of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore has recently been recognized by Technology Review’s highly regarded TR35 Global list of the world’s top 35 innovators under the age of 35.
Zhang, who earned an undergraduate degree from Tsinghua University in the People’s Republic of China and a PhD in electrical engineering and computer science at MIT, is internationally recognized for his work with MechE Professor George Barbastathis on a groundbreaking invisibility cloak.
The cloak, which was named No. 4 of the top 10 breakthroughs in 2010 by Physics World and published in Physical Review Letters, works by placing a wedge of calcite crystal—a crystalline form of calcium carbonate, the main ingredient in seashells and stalactites/stalagmites in caves—over an object. When the object is then illuminated by visible light and viewed from the direction perpendicular to the wedge, it “disappears” from sight because the observer perceives the wedge as flat and thus nonexistent. And it’s not just a simple illusion. The cloak is designed so that any scientific instrument would also be “fooled” into thinking the crystal surface is flat.
Congratulations, Baile!
For see the full TR35 list, go to http://www.technologyreview.com/tr35.
