Phononics Society Recognizes UA Professor for Pioneering Role in the Field
Pierre Deymier, professor of materials science and engineering (MSE), the BIO5 Institute, and the Applied Mathematics Graduate Interdisciplinary Program, is the winner of the 2023 Bloch Prize from the International Phononics Society. The prize honors individuals who have made “outstanding and sustained contributions in the field of phononics,” or the branch of physics studying phonons, a type of quasi-particle that carries sound and heat. Phononics has applications in fields ranging from telecommunications to environmental science to high-speed computing.
The prize is named for Felix Bloch, a physicist and Nobel physics laureate who developed the underlying theory for electron wave propagation in periodic media and was the first director general of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN, for the French acronym).
Deymier is another pioneer in the field of phononics, who is advancing phonon-based high-speed computing as a sound-based analog to quantum computing. He also researches materials theory, acoustic metamaterials, topological acoustics and biomaterials. As the winner of the prize, he will receive a medal and deliver the Bloch Lecture at the International Phononics Society’s biennial conference.
“From a personal point of view, this prize recognizes 30 years of research, publications, books, leadership and engagement in the field of phononics – including the organization of the international conference Phononics 2019 in Tucson,” Deymier said.
Deymier has been at the University of Arizona since 1985 and is the author of more than 220 refereed publications and the editor, author or co-author of three books and six book chapters. He served as the director for the School of Sustainable Engineered Systems at the UA from 2009 to 2017 and as the head of the MSE Department from 2011 to 2021. He holds 11 patents and patent applications.
“Professor Deymier is one of the world’s eminent thought leaders in the field of topological acoustics, and the department is incredibly proud to have him be recognized for his seminal contributions and continuing leadership this field,” said Sammy Tin, head of the MSE Department and Patrick R. Taylor Professor of MSE.
