Rahim Esfandyar-Pour Wins DARPA Young Faculty Award

Researcher’s innovations are useful in medical, defense and energy applications

Rahim Esfandyar-Pour, UCI assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science, has received the prestigious DARPA Young Faculty Award (DARPA YFA 2023) from the Department of Defense. The award will support the UCI researcher’s innovations into nanodevices and nanoelectronics for use in medical, defense, and energy applications. Steve Zylius / UCI

Oct. 19, 2023 - The U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has named UCI’s Rahim Esfandyar-Pour as one of its Young Faculty Award winners for 2023.

The DARPA YFA program, established to identify and engage rising stars in junior academic research positions, provides these researchers with high-impact financial support and mentoring. It also connects early-career scientists with industry and Department of Defense contacts to foster “innovative new research that enables transformative DoD capabilities,” according to the DARPA website.

Esfandyarpour, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science, specializes in the invention of smart nanoelectronics, flexible electronics and bioelectronics that have proven useful in a wide range of fields.

In his Laboratory for Integrated Nano Bio Electronics Innovation, Esfandyar-Pour leads an interdisciplinary team of scientists and engineers in the pursuit of beneficial technologies. Their pioneering research centers on next-generation flexible and wearable electronics with precision sensing capabilities, nanodevices and nano-bio-integrated implements that represent the latest in human tissue and machine interface studies, smart bioelectronic systems to facilitate personalized healthcare, and nanomaterials and nanoelectronics for sustainable energy solutions.

“I am grateful to have been recognized by DARPA with this prestigious Young Faculty Award,” said Esfandyar-Pour, who holds joint appointments in the departments of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in the Henry Samueli School of Engineering.

“One of the agency’s missions is to ensure that the US remains a leader in technology. While some of their efforts are defense-centric, others are primarily geared towards technological advancements, aiming to address challenges benefiting the whole of society. It’s exciting to be part of this worthy pursuit,” he said.

- Brian Bell / UCI

Share

  • X