Hans Hilgenkamp elected Fellow of the American Physical Society

Hans Hilgenkamp, professor of Physics at the UT (faculty S&T), has been elected as Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS). Less than half a per cent of the 55,000 members are elected for this fellowship every year. “It is a recognition for years of good work.”

Hilgenkamp has been elected for “pioneering work in combining superconducting materials and nanotechnology”, Hilgenkamp and his team did a lot of research on the combination of several types of superconductors. “A lot of interesting effects, such as spontaneously generated magnetic fields, can be observed when combining small structures of high- and low-temperature superconducting materials.” His research taught us a lot about superconductors.

APS doesn’t notify researchers on their nomination beforehand. “I was surprised when I got the message from APS about my election”, says Hilgenkamp. He praises the work of his team when he says: “It is not only a personal recognition but most of all a recognition for years of good work of all the people I’ve worked with.” 

It has been over nine months since Hilgenkamp went back to research full time after a period of five years as Dean of the faculty S&T. Last year, he has been appointed a member of the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities. Of course, the work as a Dean hasn’t stopped him from doing research. He mentions: “The election is for work from the past twenty years, not a single publication”. The official award ceremony will be held next year at the annual APS March Meeting in Denver.

 UT APS Fellows 

Hilgenkamp is not the only researcher from the UT elected as Fellow of APS. Ad Lagendijk (1997), Detlef Lohse (2002), Willem Vos and Rector Thom Palstra (both in 2013) have all been recognized as APS Fellow.