Deymier Wins 2023 Bloch Prize for Phononics Research

MSE professor Pierre Deymier is the winner of the 2023 Bloch Prize from the International Phononics Society. The prize honors individuals who have made “outstanding and sustained contributions in the field of phononics,” or the branch of physics studying phonons, a type of quasi-particle that carries sound and heat. Phononics has applications in fields ranging from telecommunications to environmental science to high-speed computing.

Deymier is a pioneer in the field of phononics who is advancing phonon-based high-speed computing as a sound-based analog to quantum computing. He researches materials theory, acoustic metamaterials, topological acoustics and biomaterials. As the winner of the prize, he will receive a medal and deliver the Bloch Lecture at the International Phononics Society’s biennial conference.

“From a personal point of view, this prize recognizes 30 years of research, publications, books, leadership and engagement in the field of phononics – including the organization of the international conference Phononics 2019 in Tucson,” Deymier said.

Deymier has been at the University of Arizona since 1985 and is the author of more than 220 refereed publications and the editor, author or co-author of three books and six book chapters. He served as the director for the School of Sustainable Engineered Systems at the UA from 2009 to 2017 and as the head of the MSE Department from 2011 to 2021. He holds 11 patents and patent applications.