For Release: Immediate – June 13, 2018
Contact: Steve Ference, Director of University Communications
(518) 956-7319 | sference@sunypoly.edu

Albany, NY — SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) announced that Professor of Nanoscience Dr. Eric Lifshin has been selected as a Fellow of the Microanalysis Society (MAS), an honor given to the society’s most distinguished members to recognize top scientists, engineers, and technologists in the field of microanalysis who have developed or advanced techniques, applications, or theories.

“On behalf of SUNY Poly, I am thrilled to congratulate Dr. Lifshin on this notable accomplishment that recognizes him for decades of leadership in the area of microanalysis,” said SUNY Poly Interim President Dr. Bahgat Sammakia. “This prestigious honor is fitting for a professor who has not only made valuable contributions to the field of electron beam microanalysis, but has also inspired students in the courses he designed which are based on the methods he pioneered.”

With 38-years at GE Global Research, Dr. Lifshin also served as MAS president in the mid-1970s. In 2000 Dr. Lifshin joined what would later become SUNY Poly as a founding professor, where he now teaches a graduate course in scanning electronic microscopy, in addition to undergraduate courses on electron and ion optics, as well as thin film analysis. He has also previously taught about the relationship between art and science for the UAlbany Honor’s College.

“I am proud of the historical role I was able to play in an emerging technology that has become ubiquitous in labs throughout the world, and it is wonderful to be recognized by the Microanalysis Society for this research, ” said Dr. Lifshin. “I am grateful that the MAS is honoring me for having made a number of other contributions to this field, such as enabling automated data collection and analysis, specimen current imaging, and the use of energy dispersive analyzers with scanning electron microscopes, as I work to educate the next generation of researchers at SUNY Poly.”

Dr. Lifshin is widely regarded in the microanalysis community for his pioneering work combining an energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). This development is now standard procedure throughout the world, and he popularized the technique in part by detailing how the SEM/EDS could measure absolute X-Ray production efficiencies and determine the shape of the X-Ray continuum. This led to the development of more effective procedures for quantitative X-Ray microanalysis, which enabled materials to be more effectively characterized. His research has also blazed a path in areas that include new modes of SEM imaging, instrument automation, and Monte Carlo Modeling for understanding the interaction of solids with electron beams.

Dr. Lifshin also co-authored the most widely used textbook in this field of study, “Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-Ray Microanalysis.” With a long list of published research articles, he is regularly invited to provide scholarly talks at universities and conferences. He received the Peter Duncumb Award from the MAS in 2013, which is given to one person each year with an ongoing career, a history of moving microanalysis forward through innovative research, and a focus on educating and inspiring future researchers. Dr. Lifshin also previously served as the Metrology & Electron Imaging Facilities Director and Director of the Center for Advanced Interconnect Science & Technology (CAIST) at SUNY Poly. His current research is centered on improving the quality and resolution of SEM images, an area that is particularly important for nanoelectronics fabrication and life sciences.

Dr. Lifshin will be honored August 8, 2018, at the annual MAS meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, where he is also an invited speaker and co-author of a paper being presented.

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About SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly)

SUNY Poly is New York’s globally recognized, high-tech educational ecosystem. SUNY Poly offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in the emerging disciplines of nanoscience and nanoengineering, as well as cutting-edge nanobioscience and nanoeconomics programs at its Albany campus, and undergraduate and graduate degrees in technology, including engineering, cybersecurity, computer science, and the engineering technologies; professional studies, including business, communication, and nursing; and arts and sciences, including natural sciences, mathematics, humanities, and social sciences at its Utica/Rome campus; thriving athletic, recreational, and cultural programs, events, and activities complement the campus experience. As the world’s most advanced, university-driven research enterprise, SUNY Poly boasts billions of dollars in high-tech investments and hundreds of corporate partners since its inception. For information visit www.sunypoly.edu.