WQCES-2026

Harry Ruda is the Stanley Meek Chair Professor in Nanotechnology at the University of Toronto, and Director of the Centre for Advanced Nanotechnology - Canada’s first centre for nanotechnology. After obtaining his BSc from Imperial College in 1979, he joined MIT, and from 1979 to 1982 he worked on the optical and transport properties of II-VI materials and obtained his PhD in 1982. Between 1982 and 1984 he developed one of the first theories for electron transport in selectively doped two dimensional electron gas heterostructures while working as an IBM postdoctoral fellow, and in 1984 he joined 3M Corporation as a senior scientist developing some of the first models for electronic transport and optical properties of wide bandgap II-VI semiconductors, while being a key member of the blue laser team. In 1989 he joined the University of Toronto, rising through the ranks to his current Full Professor appointment. Professor Ruda has published over 300 publications in international refereed journals (with over 8,792 citations; h=45), has co-authored 4 books and has 14 patents. Professor Ruda’s research interests focus on nanostructures with application in areas such as sensing and quantum technology. Harry Ruda serves on the National Science and Engineering Council of Canada and on other government panels including those of the DOE, EPA and NSF in the US, and the RAE and EPSRC in the UK. He serves as a board member of Canadian Solar Inc (CSIQ:NASDAQ) and served on the international advisory board of the National University of Science and Technology in Moscow. He has also served on the editorial boards of: Journal of Applied Physics, Applied Physics Letters, Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, Nanotechnology Research Letters, and Nano-Micro Letters and is currently Chief Editor of IET-CDS. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Fellow of Institute of Physics, Fellow of the Institute of Nanotechnology, Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, and Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering.