Jun 23, 2026
Duffield Engineering
Kenji Yasuda, assistant professor in the School of Applied and Engineering Physics at Cornell Duffield Engineering, has received two international honors this year recognizing his research in quantum materials and next-generation electronics.
In March, Yasuda was selected as a recipient of the 2026 Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Award, one of the U.S. Department of the Navy’s most prestigious programs for early-career scientists and engineers. The ONR Young Investigator Program supports exceptional scientists at the beginning of their academic careers whose work shows outstanding promise for advancing science and technology relevant to national priorities. Yasuda’s funded project, “Superlubric Sliding Ferroelectrics for Ultralow-Power Nonvolatile Memory,” seeks to develop new materials platforms for highly energy-efficient memory technologies, and could dramatically reduce the energy required to store and process information while retaining data without continuous power.
This project aligns closely with his lab’s vision of translating discoveries in quantum materials into functional devices for information storage and computing. By integrating expertise in materials design, nanofabrication and quantum physics, Yasuda’s team seeks to develop technologies that surpass the limitations of conventional semiconductor electronics.
