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David Gundlach (Fed)
Chief, Nanoscale Device Characterization Division
David J. Gundlach is Chief of the Nanoscale Device Characterization Division of the Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The Division provides technical leadership in measurement science research, development, and standards essential to improving U.S. economic competitiveness for advanced manufacturing. The Division transforms nano- and atom-scale technologies by advancing measurement science and fundamental knowledge. The Division's mission is to develop and advance the measurement and knowledge infrastructure to characterize nano- and atom-scale engineered materials and solid-state devices for innovation in information processing, sensing, and future quantum technologies.
Dr. Gundlach was born in York, PA in 1969. He is a 1987 graduate of William Penn Sr. High School. He received his B.S. in Physics in 1992, and M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 1997 and 2001, respectively, from The Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Gundlach served in the U.S. Army Reserves from 1992 through 2001. After graduate school, Dr. Gundlach joined IBM’s Zürich Research Laboratory as a postdoctoral researcher and in 2003 joined Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zürich as a research staff member in the Department of Solid-State Physics. In 2005, Dr. Gundlach joined the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, MD, as the leader of the Thin Film Electronics Project in the Semiconductor Electronics Division (Engineering Physics Division following the 2012 NIST reorganization). From 2016 to 2017, he was on detail as a program analyst to the Office of the Under Secretary for Standards & Technology, and NIST Director. In December 2017, Dr. Gundlach returned from his detail to lead the Engineering Physics Division and become the Chief of the Nanoscale Device Characterization Division following the 2018 merger of the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) and PML.
Throughout much of Dr. Gundlach’s research career, he has been studying the physics of organic devices such as transistors, solar cells, and light emitting diodes, for use in flexible electronic and optoelectronic applications. In 2010, Dr. Gundlach was co-recipient of the 2010 William P. Slichter Award for strong collaborative interactions with industry to develop the measurements needed to accelerate the commercialization of organic electronics. In 2017, Dr. Gundlach was co-recipient of a Department of Commerce Bronze Award for accelerating the emergence of a new generation of flexible electronic devices by improving flawed standard measurement practices.
Dr. Gundlach has authored more than 80 peer reviewed journal articles; accumulating 10,000+ citations in total. He has authored more than 200 conference and workshop publications, 2 book chapters, holds 5 patents, and gives invited seminars throughout the world. Dr. Gundlach has co-chaired conference symposium for SPIE, ECS, and MRS, organized several workshops, and organized symposium at the EMC, ISDRS, and IRPS. He was Technical Program Chair and General Chair of the Device Research Conference in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Dr. Gundlach is a member of the IEEE and APS, and a former editorial board member for IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.