Sargent, Ted 1973–

(Edward H. Sargent)

PERSONAL: Born 1973. Education: Queen's University, B.Sc.Eng., 1995; University of Toronto, Ph.D., 1998.

ADDRESSES: Office—Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, Galbraith Building, Rm. GB447, 10 King's College Rd., Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G4, Canada. E-mail—ted.sargent@utoronto.ca.

CAREER: Professor, researcher, and writer. University of Toronto, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, professor, 1998–; Massachusetts Institute of Technology Microphotonics Center, Cambridge, MA, visiting professor of nanotechnology.

MEMBER: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers of Canada (chair of Toronto, Ontario section, 1999–2001).

AWARDS, HONORS: Silver medal, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, 1999, for doctoral research on lateral current injection laser; Premier's Research Excellence Award, 1999; Canada Research Chair in Emerging Technologies, 2001; Outstanding Engineer Award, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers of Canada, 2002; named to Canadian Institute for Advanced Research's list of Canada's top twenty researchers under 40, 2002; named to Technology Review's list of top 100 young innovators, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2003; Top 40 under 40, Globe and Mail Report on Business Magazine, 2004; named to Scientific American's list of top 50 leaders in science and technology, 2005.

WRITINGS:

The Lateral Current Injection Laser: Theory, Design, Fabrication (doctoral thesis), National Library of Canada (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada), 1998.

The Dance of Molecules: How Nanotechnology Is Changing Our Lives, Viking Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2005.

Research published in journals, including Journal of Experimental Nanoscience, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Applied Physics Letters, Chemistry of Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, Optics Express, Langmuir, Journal of Quantum Electronics, Nature Materials, Synthetic Metals, Nano Letters, Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics, Journal of Materials Chemistry, Surface Science, Journal of Lightwave Technology, Solid State Electronics, Nature, and Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology.

SIDELIGHTS: Ted Sargent first became interested in physics in high school, when a teacher introduced him to the concept of engineering as a means of answering many of the universe's questions with science and math. As part of his doctoral studies at the University of Toronto, Sargent developed a new kind of laser with far-reaching applications; his research earned him several awards as well as a faculty position at his alma mater. Sargent focused his research in the area of nanotechnology and microphotonics (the science of directing light on a microscopic scale), and subsequently wrote a book on the rapidly growing field titled The Dance of Molecules: How Nanotechnology Is Changing Our Lives. In an interview with Nanotechnology Group contributor Erica Vonderheid, Sargent explained: "I felt writing a book that communicated the importance of nanotechnology discoveries could jump-start discussion about the promise of this field. These issues are important, whether at cocktail parties or at a national-policy level."

Booklist reviewer Donna Seaman called the book a "lively and informative introduction to a burgeoning field" with "sharply etched explanations." Wade M. Lee wrote in a Library Journal review that the book "presents a balanced picture" and Sargent's "use of metaphorical language to explain complex, microscopic phenomena is often illuminating." A writer for the University of Toronto News Digest commented: "It's clear that Sargent has fun with the writing process—the book is chockablock with creative metaphors that help explain the science behind Q-dots, buckyballs, and microphotonics." A Science a GoGo Web site contributor described The Dance of Molecules as having a "refeshingly optimistic outlook," written in "an amusing and witty fashion."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, December 1, 2005, Donna Seaman, review of The Dance of Molecules: How Nanotechnology Is Changing Our Lives, p. 22.

Library Journal, December 1, 2005, Wade M. Lee, review of The Dance of Molecules, p. 167.

ONLINE

Nano Technology Group, Inc., http://www.thenanotechnologygroup.org/ (March 1, 2006), Erica Vonderheid, "Dancing to the Nanotech Beat," review of The Dance of Molecules.

Science a GoGo, http://www.scienceagogo.com/ (February 16, 2006), review of The Dance of Molecules.

Ted Sargent Home Page, http://www.tedsargent.com (May 4, 2006).

University of Toronto News Digest, http://www.news.utoronto.ca/ (November 5, 2005), "Think Small: Nanotechnology Will Revolutionize the World, Says U of T's Ted Sargent."