Smith continues advances in semiconductor nanolithography using methods he and his team introduced pushing the resolution limits that are integral to today's integrated circuits industry. He has advanced semiconductor patterning technology, and his contributions in nanolithography have been detailed in more than 150 publications, textbooks, and several book chapters.
"Bruce Smith is an innovator whose work makes a difference," said Doreen Edwards, dean of RIT's Kate Gleason College of Engineering. "We've seen his creativity and drive impact an industry and also influence the many students he has taught. He has been a role model for how you build important technologies that improve people's lives."
Smith has developed courses in microelectronic patterning, materials, and processing that have been used as the basis for classes at universities worldwide. Smith has also pioneered unique engineering research experiences for both graduate and undergraduate students. Through support from industrial partners and the Interuniversity Microelectronics Center, he created the RIT/IMEC/Mentor Graphics Graduate Research Experience for extended student assignments with researchers at the IMEC consortium in Belgium. The program has supported Ph.D. students from RIT and elsewhere for more than 15 years, as Smith has held various visiting professor positions in the U.S., U.K., and Europe. At RIT, Smith is part of the Future Photonics Initiative, one of the university's signature research areas.