Jerry Woodall

Jerry M. Woodall
Born	1938 Takoma Park, Maryland, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Electrical engineer, inventor, professor
Years active	1960–present
Known for	Contributions to LED technology and semiconductor research; invention of heterojunction devices

Jerry M. Woodall serves as a professor in electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, Davis, distinguished for his groundbreaking contributions to LED technology and semiconductor research. Over the span of his professional journey, he has authored close to 400 scientific publications that have influenced essential technologies worldwide, including television sets, optical fiber communications, and mobile phone devices. Woodall is credited with more than 80 U.S. patents and has been honored with prestigious awards from organizations such as IBM, NASA, and the U.S. presidency in recognition of his scientific and technological achievements.

Education and early life

Born in 1938 in Takoma Park, Maryland, Woodall was raised in a household where his father worked as a plastering contractor and his mother managed the home. His early education took place at a Seventh Day Adventist elementary school, followed by secondary education at Takoma Academy.

Although he initially faced challenges in "Electricity and Magnetism" during his studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Metallurgy with a Psychology minor in 1960. After graduation, Woodall spent two years as a Staff Engineer at Clevite Transistor Products located in Waltham, MA. In 1962, he joined the research staff at IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center, where he devoted much of his career and was appointed Corporate IBM Fellow in 1985. Concurrent with his work at IBM, he earned a PhD in electrical engineering from Cornell University in 1982.

Woodall transitioned into academia by accepting a professorship at Purdue University in 1993, focusing on microelectronics. Between 1999 and 2004, he also held a teaching position in electrical engineering at Yale University before returning to Purdue in 2005. In 2012, he took up his current role at UC Davis within the Electrical & Computer Engineering department.

Research

Woodall’s research centers on pioneering new electronic materials and microelectronic devices that yield substantial societal benefits. During his tenure at IBM, he pioneered a highly efficient LED utilizing the liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) technique, which became fundamental to LED development. He extended this work by inventing high-speed electronic and photonic components, including the first super bright red LED and an advanced high-efficiency solar cell. His innovations in LED technology serve as the basis for numerous consumer electronics such as remote controls, televisions, infrared-based LAN devices, CD players, and optical fiber systems employing super-bright red LEDs. Woodall is often recognized as the "father of heterojunction devices" due to his invention and enhancement of modern heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT) and pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistors (P-HEMT). These compact, high-speed transistors are integral components in tablets and mobile phones.

In recent years, Woodall’s laboratory has concentrated on developing efficient and sustainable energy technologies. They engineered a hybrid solar power conversion system that operates effectively at moderate temperatures without relying on conventional cooling methods. This innovation aims to lower costs while enhancing efficiency and thermal stability—addressing critical challenges hindering the expansion of solar energy applications. Additionally, his research explores hydrogen as an alternative fuel source by devising techniques for on-demand hydrogen generation alongside investigating safe storage and transportation methods to improve its practicality as a renewable energy option.

Contributions to science

Jerry Woodall, an American innovator and researcher, is acclaimed for creating the first commercially practical heterojunction material, Aluminium gallium arsenide (GaAlAs). This compound is widely utilized in red LEDs found in automotive brake lights, traffic signals, CD/DVD players, television remote controls, and computer networking equipment. His groundbreaking work in compound semiconductor materials and device development earned him the US National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

In 1989, Woodall was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). He also holds the distinction of being an Honorary Member of The Electrochemical Society (ECS) and a fellow of several prestigious organizations including the American Vacuum Society (AVS), IEEE, and the American Physical Society (APS).

Woodall recently presented a lecture at MIT where he discussed his ongoing research focused on renewable energy and energy storage technologies. He stressed the urgent requirement for more effective energy storage systems to complement intermittent renewable sources such as solar and wind power. Current energy storage approaches are inefficient, contribute to global warming, and lack the capacity to reliably store and deliver adequate power during periods of low generation. His current projects aim to engineer a solution capable of efficiently capturing, storing, and discharging intermittent energy while simultaneously producing clean drinking water on demand. This advancement is expected to be instrumental as the worldwide energy sector shifts towards sustainable resources.

Awards and honors

• R&D 100 Award (1975)
• Electronics Division Award, Electrochemical Society (1980)
• Fellow of the American Physical Society (1982)
• IEEE Jack A. Morton Award (1984)
• Gordon E. Moore Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Solid State Science and Technology, Electrochemical Society (1985)
• Gallium Arsenide Symposium Award and Heinrich Welker Gold Medal (1988)
• Membership in the National Academy of Engineering (1989)
• Founders Medal and Welch Award, American Vacuum Society (1990)
• IEEE Fellow designation (1990)
• Electrochemical Society Fellow status (1992)
• Fellow of the American Vacuum Society (1994)
• Eta Kappa Nu Vladimir Karapetoff Eminent Member's Award (1997)
• Edward Goodrich Acheson Award from Electrochemical Society (1998)
• ASEE General Electric Senior Research Award (1998)
• IEEE Electron Devices Society Millennium Medal (2000)
• Recipient of the National Medal of Technology (2001)
• FMS National Materials Advancement Award (2002)
• IEEE Jun-ichi Nishizawa Medal (2005)
• Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (2013)
• Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2018)