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CORVALLIS, Ore. – One of the nation’s leading electrical engineers and materials scientists has joined the College of Engineering at Oregon State University as the third signature faculty fellow at the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute, or ONAMI.

John F. Conley Jr., whose career with industry includes more than a dozen years as a senior scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Dynamics Research Corporation and Sharp Laboratories of America, will help speed development and commercialization of new materials and devices under way at ONAMI and its affiliated Oregon research universities.

“John will be a catalyst in transforming Oregon’s academic research into applications and in inspiring and educating Oregon’s future engineers,” said Ron Adams, dean of engineering at OSU. “He is an excellent collaborator, and will tap his experience in both industry and academia to make an impact on this state’s economic landscape. He’s a fine example of what happens when Oregon invests in both higher education and research.”

ONAMI contributed $500,000 toward Conley’s hire, much of which will be used to purchase new laboratory equipment to support his research.

"The combination of the excellent collaborative research environment on campus, the long-term vision of the College of Engineering, and the generous ONAMI startup support convinced me that OSU was the best place to pursue an academic career," Conley said.

Conley’s research expertise includes solid state materials and devices, directed assembly and device applications of nanomaterials, atomic layer deposition coating of nanomaterials, sensors, radiation effects, reliability, and electrically active point defects in novel electronic materials.

Conley has authored or co-authored more than 90 technical papers, which have received more than 700 citations, and holds 10 U.S. patents, with 10 more published and pending. Conley received his doctorate in engineering science and mechanics in 1995 from Pennsylvania State University.

Prior to joining OSU, Conley already had several collaborative research projects under way through ONAMI.