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Shuji Nakamura, University of California, Santa Barbara, received the 2020 NAS Award for the Industrial Application of Science.
Nakamura has achieved world-changing developments in the field of light-emitting diodes. His revolutionary discoveries and commercial development of Gallium nitride LEDs have had enormous impacts on energy efficiency and conservation, reduced consumer and commercial electric costs, and dramatically reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
He is widely recognized for his invention of blue LEDs, new forms of white LEDs, and green LEDs. Together his discoveries have revolutionized many fields of technology, including solid-state lighting, displays, medicine and Blu ray optical storage. His breakthroughs have had application in everything from energy-efficient lighting to displays of all sizes, as well as air and water purification and chemical sensing.
Nakamura continues to innovate with his most recent work reducing the size of LED emitters down to 1 micron (Micro-LED), a development that will have major applications in energy-efficient smartphones and smartwatches.
The NAS Award for the Industrial Application of Science honors original scientific work of intrinsic scientific importance and with significant, beneficial applications in industry. The recipient is awarded a $25,000 prize. Established by the IBM Corporation in honor of Ralph E. Gomory.
