Member Profile

Dr. Samuel Graham, Jr. is a professor in the Woodruff School of Mechanical at the at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He holds joint appointments in the Energy and Transportation Science Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

His current research centers on the develop of electronics made from wide bangdap semiconductors (III-V, oxides) and organic electronics for a range of applications including displays, rf communications, power switches, neuromorphic computing, and flexible electronics. His current research in the area of wide bandgap semiconductors made from III-V and oxide materials is focused on engineering the thermal response of the devices in order to enhance heat dissipation and improve device reliability. A key aspect of this work is in developing the understanding to engineer interfaces within the devices to control thermal transport. For neuromorphic devices, he is creating physics-based models and experimental tools to design the electro-thermal-ion transport response in neuromorphic computing systems. He also has ongoing work to design new materials to increase the mechanical reliability in flexible electronics for energy harvesting or wearable applications. Finally, he teaches a range of thermal science and materials courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels at Georgia Tech.

From 1999 to 2003, Dr. Graham was a Sr. Member of Technical Staff at Sandia National Laboratory in Livermore, CA where he worked on the development of optical coatings for EUV lithography systems. In 2003, he joined the Woodruff school of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology as an Assistant Professor. He was promoted to Professor in 2013 and is now the Eugene C. Gwaltney, Jr. Professor and School chair where he leads one of the nation’s largest mechanical engineering programs (98 faculty, 75 staff, and over 2800 students). He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Florida State University (1993) and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (1999) from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Dr. Graham was a member of the Defense Science Study Group (2014-16). He is currently a member of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board (2016-present), JASON (2019 - present), Emerging Technologies Technical Advisory Committee of the US Department of Commerce (2020- present), and a Member of the MIT Board of Visitors for Mechanical Engineering