Lih Lin receiving her Fellowship at the AIMBE Annual conference on March 25.
Lih Lin , a Molecular Engineering & Sciences faculty member and electrical & computer engineering professor, was inducted into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows last month. IMBE Fellows are professionals who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering and medicine research, practice or education” and to “the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of medical and biological engineering or developing/implementing innovative approaches to bioengineering education.”
Lin was nominated, reviewed, and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows “for contributions in applying nanophotonics to biological and biomedical engineering research and broader impacts through promoting diversity.” Lin has been at UW since 2003 and is a pioneer in the field of photonics. She has applied her expertise in that sphere to make substantial contributions to biological and biomedical research.
“Dr. Lin is an active member of the Molecular Engineering and Sciences Institute community who is passionate about technology development and collaborative research,” said Suzie Pun, director of MolES and Washington Research Professor of Bioengineering. “The photonic crystal optical tweezers developed by her group greatly reduce the light intensity required for trapping and manipulating biological samples. Her work on optical stimulation of cells and neurons through quantum dots provided a new approach to optogenetics without the need of genetic modification.”
In addition to her groundbreaking work in photonics, Lin has championed the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion.
“Helping students from underrepresented groups to overcome invisible barriers is her lifetime commitment, and she has a track record of mentoring students from underrepresented minority and LGBTQ groups as well as participating in events organized by these groups,” said J.-C. Chiao , the Mary and Richard Templeton Centennial Chair professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Lyle School of Engineering at Southern Methodist University. “She has demonstrated her commitment to championing diversity through her proactive efforts at multiple levels and her active involvement with professional societies. Propelled by this momentum, she will continue to create broader impacts benefiting the community of medical and biological engineering.”
On top of her AIMBE induction, Lin is an IEEE and Optica (formerly OSA) Fellow and has more than 100 refereed journal publications, 180 invited and contributed conference papers as well as 34 U.S. patents.
“I feel truly honored that the AIMBE College of Fellows voted to approve my nomination, especially given that I am not from this community,” said Lin. “I think this means my research field of photonics can make impacts in a broad range of fields; or vice versa, medical and biological engineering is such an important and broad discipline in our society that many other research fields can find ways to contribute to it.”