Deblina Sarkar is an Assistant Professor at MIT and AT&T Career Development ChairProfessor at MIT Media Arts and Sciences. She heads the Nano-Cybernetic Biotrek (NCB) research group which carries out trans-disciplinary research fusing engineering, applied physics, and biology. The aim of NCB is to bridge the gap between nanotechnology and synthetic biology to develop disruptive technologies for nanoelectronic devices and create new paradigms for human-machine symbiosis. Her inventions include, among others, a 6-atom thick channel quantum-mechanical transistor overcoming fundamental power limitations,an ultra-sensitive label-free biosensor and technology for nanoscale deciphering of biological building blocks of brain. Her PhD dissertation was honored asone of the top 3 dissertations throughout USA and Canadain the field of Mathematics, Physical sciences and all departments of Engineering. She has received numerous other awards and recognitions, including the Lancaster Award, Technology Review’s one of the Top 10Innovators Under 35from India, and theNIH K99 Pathway to Independence Award.
Our Corresponding Editor, Dr. Priyanka Mishra, Postdoc at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada, spoke to Dr. Deblina Sarkar and these are the excerpts:
PM: Did you dream of becoming a scientist when you were growing up? Is there a scientist that you look up to and why do you admire him/her?
DS: Yes,I always loved that feeling when mysteries unfold gradually. Einstein as his imagination was profound and he could see things which others could not from the same phenomenon.
PM: What inspired you choosing a carrier in academia and running an active and productive research lab, which also involved training and mentoring of several graduate students and postdocs, into an advocate for improving graduate education and the career development of thousands of graduate students and postdocs?
DS: Initial aim to be in academia was to be able to do independent research but I think students are the best part of being a professor.
PM: Would you like to share a bit about your research program. What are the overall importance of these projects and How do you see these works impacting the field? My research program
DS: My research program is focused on trans-disciplinary research fusing engineering, applied physics, and biology.Our aim is to bridge the gap between nanotechnology and synthetic biology to develop disruptive technologies for nanoelectronic devices and create new paradigms for human-machine symbiosis. Please see this for research projects http://www.mit.edu/~profsarkar/research.html
PM: What would you say is the most exciting finding in your field which help shaped your research?
DS: The discovery of electrons and the invention of transistors.
PM: Your research contribution you deem to be the most important, and tell its significance in terms of how it influences the direction of thought and activity within the target community.
DS: Electronics is ubiquitous in today’s world with applications ranging from smart cities to health care, defense, economy, government,education, research, entertainment and the list goes on. While the computing demands of these applications are ever increasing, the capabilities of electronics have hit fundamental limitations and have plateaued. I invented the world’s thinnest channel (6 atoms thick) quantum-mechanical transistor which overcomes the fundamental thermal limitations of present technology [Nature 2015] [Nature News and Views 2015]. This transistor can lead to energy reduction by more than 75% and also, allows dimensional scalability to beyond Silicon scaling era. This device can address the energy crisis of information technology and have huge impact on the digital world.
PM: You have been conducting amazing bench work so far. From your perspective what is the most controversial question in your field right now?
DS: Should or can we make ourselves better than what nature has made us to be?
PM: How could your research can contribute to a scientific breakthrough?
DS: We aim to develop novel nanoelectronic computational devices employing ingenious device physics and smart nano-materials for achieving extreme energy efficiency and scalability as well as build unique nanoelectronics-bio hybrid systems, to create unprecedented possibilities for probing/sensing and modulating (for therapeutics) our brain and body at a single cell or sub-cellular precision remotely. Our long-term goal, going beyond probing and modulation, is to enable incorporation of functionalities, not otherwise allowed by biology, for enhancing and transcending us beyond our biological limitations.
PM: What is the one piece of advice you could give to someone considering a research career?
DS: There is a saying “someone who can meditate well, can also cook well.” So, I advice students to come outside their comfort zone and learn about research areas that do not fall immediately within their research fields. You will be surprised to find how much synergies exist and truly disruptive technologies will often merge at the interface of diverse research arenas.
PM: Would you like to to pen your thoughts--a single sentence that is preferably, but not necessarily funny, thought-provoking, motivational, potentially life-changing--that the graduate students and postdocs (and, even some faculty) can print out and post it at their bench or desk?
DS: It is extremely important to do what you really love and find the fun in research.
--
Further info on Dr. Sarkar:
web -http://www.mit.edu/~profsarkar/
linkedin -https://www.linkedin.com/in/deblina-sarkar-6bb650a/
twitter -https://twitter.com/DeblinaSarkar59