Houqiang Fu

Fascinated at a young age by the revolutionary transformation he saw engineering and technology having on the world, Houqiang Fu says there was little doubt about his career path.

Fu’s interests evolved into a focus on the intersection of electrical engineering, materials science, photonics and physics.

His work extends from wide and ultrawide bandgap semiconductors and devices for next-generation power electronics to radio frequency electronics, ultraviolet photonics and devices designed to work in extreme environments.

Fu says his progress in those endeavors can help to provide solutions to critical societal needs for better energy efficiency, computing, communications and sensing technologies, as well as provide electronics for use in systems used for renewable energy, electric vehicles, and consumer electronics.

He points out that all these fields involve semiconductors, making him a perfect fit for his new role as an assistant professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, one of the seven schools in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University.

“ASU is well known for its strong research capabilities in semiconductor materials and devices. Many faculty members work at the forefront of semiconductor research in world-class facilities for semiconductor growth, characterization and fabrication,” he says. “These resources will be immensely helpful for my research in wide and ultrawide bandgap semiconductors and for building my research group.”  

He was also attracted by ASU’s entrepreneurial culture.

“Technologies developed in labs here can make an impact in the world,” Fu says, “and ASU is becoming an important hub for the semiconductor industry, which can facilitate technology transfer and commercialization.”

Fu earned a doctoral degree in electrical engineering at ASU in 2019 — along with winning the Fulton Schools’ Palais Outstanding Doctoral Award — before taking a position as an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Iowa State University.

He now returns to ASU to teach semiconductor-related courses, and this fall semester will develop a new course on wide and ultrawide bandgap semiconductors and devices.

“I will try to integrate the latest developments and progress in related fields into the course so that students know the theories and also the real-world applications,” Fu says.

“Students will have insights into the inner workings of materials as a physicist,” he says, “and learn how to apply the underlying principles to design devices for specific applications as an engineer.”

Meet the newest faculty members of the Fulton Schools of Engineering here.

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Written by Joe Kullman