Dr. Rhyee selected as the 2009 Young Investigator International Thermoelectric Society recipient!

Dr. Rhyee from the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, South Korea has been selected as the recipient of the 2009 Young Investigator International Thermoelectric Society Award. The award will be given to Dr. Rhyee during the award ceremony at the ICT2009 banquet in Freiburg, Germany.

Dr. Rhyee received his PhD in 2005 from Gwang-Ju Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea. Dr. Rhyee’s outstanding contributions have been documented in a number of journal publications, including a recent contribution accepted for publication in Nature and titled: “Peierls distortion as a route to high thermoelectric performance in In₄Se_3-d crystals.” His curriculum vitae can be found here.

A total of four candidates competed for the award this year. In addition to Dr. Rhyee, the other candidates were:

• Dr. Ihtesham Chowdhury, Intel Corporation, USA
• Dr. Jian He, Clemson University, USA
• Dr. Yaniv Gelbstein, Ben-Gurion University, Israel

With a very strong pool of applicants this year, the selection was difficult but the Selection Committee eventually declared Dr. Rhyee as the winner for this year.

On behalf of the International Thermoelectric Society, I would like to thank all applicants and commend them for their outstanding accomplishments in the field of thermoelectrics. I would also like to, again, congratulate Dr. Rhyee for this fine accomplishment.

Thierry Caillat
President, International Thermoelectric Society