Robert Devlin

My Greatest Accomplishment: While studying nanofabrication, nanophotonics and material science, I authored or co-authored more than 20 articles that helped advance the emerging field of metasurfaces (ultra-thin, flat lenses), including the first demonstration of metasurface lenses that could make images using visible light. Toward the end of my doctoral degree in physics (2017) at Harvard, I co-founded Metalenz Inc., a venture-funded company commercializing these flat optical technologies. Because metasurfaces are flat, unlike curved lenses that we are used to in our every day life, they enable the production of cameras that are significantly smaller than conventional cameras. These metasurfaces cameras also provide access to hidden information in light that normal cameras are not able to detect. The combination of smaller cameras and access to more information from an image has provided Metalenz with exciting applications in a diverse set of fields: from ultra-small cell phone cameras for 3D imaging to cameras for autonomous driving.

How Drexel Helped: Drexel gave me a lot of practical hands-on experience through the co-op program. One co-op was completed in College of Engineering Professor Steve May’s group, where I had a chance to get first-hand experience in investigating complex research questions while learning from the graduate students around me. All of this real experience put me in a great position to succeed as a doctoral student of physics at Harvard and ultimately helped me in forming Metalenz.

Where I’ll Be in Five Years: I hope to see Metalenz succeed and I hope I’ll be able to provide advice and perspective to students in science and engineering looking to turn their research into companies and products.