Farida Selim

Farida Selim’s interest in engineering is fueled by the excitement of discovery and invention, which she sees as the foundation of technological development. As an expert in materials science for use in the semiconductor industry, Selim’s work is important for a wide range of applications.

“Developing new materials and turning them into useful electronic devices that make people’s lives better is a big reward that keeps me going in the semiconductor field,” she says.

In the spring, Selim will join the faculty in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University.

Selim chose to continue her career at ASU after working as a professor of physics at Bowling Green State University in Ohio because of ASU’s focus on interdisciplinary education and research fits well with her own work and interests.

Selim’s research focuses include foundational and applied research on semiconductor oxide and wide-bandgap materials, which improve semiconductor efficiency more than traditional silicon-based materials. She also studies defects and radiation damage in semiconductor and functional materials, and she is internationally recognized as a world leader on positron annihilation spectroscopy.

Early in her career, Selim invented the accelerator-based positron annihilation spectroscopy technique, now known as Gamma-induced positron spectroscopy. This technique provides a sensitive, nondestructive tool for defects in engineering materials. Recently, she invented three photoemission spectroscopy methods to advance the characterization of electronic and photonic materials. She is also the sole inventor of seven patents related to her semiconductor research.

Selim has received several awards from the National Science Foundation and Air Force Research Laboratory as well as two Energy Frontier Research Center grants from the U.S. Department of Energy — the Center for Thermal Transport under Irradiation, or TETI, and Fundamental Understanding of Transport Under Reactor Extremes, or FUTURE. With FUTURE, she is in charge of developing a national research infrastructure at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Selim is also a member of five international advisory committees related to positrons, semiconductor oxides and photonic materials.

When she begins her new position in the Fulton Schools, Selim will teach a course on solid-state physics and electronic properties for engineers. She is also excited to apply her research expertise in a broad range of engineering disciplines and translate her findings into useful technology for the public good.

In her free time, Selim enjoys reading and traveling.

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

Written by Monique Clement