Prof. M. Selim Ünlü was born in Sinop, Turkey, in 1964. He received his B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, in 1986, and his M.S.E.E. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, in 1988 and 1992, respectively.

From 1984 to 1986, he was a part-time research engineer with Military Electronics, Inc., Ankara, Turkey, where he worked on VHF communication systems. In 1992, he joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Boston University, as an Assistant Professor, and he has been a Professor since 2003. He held visiting positions at Optoelectronics Department, University of Ulm, Germany (January – June 2000), at Quantum Photonics Group, ETH Zürich, Switzerland (September – December 2006), and at Koc University, Istanbul, Turkey (January – June 2007). In 2008, he started Zoíray Technology Inc., and serves as the Chief Technology Officer.

Dr. Ünlü‘s career interest is in research and development of photonic materials, devices and systems focusing on the design, processing, characterization, and modeling of semiconductor optoelectronic devices, especially photodetectors, and high resolution imaging and spectroscopy of semiconductor and biological materials.

During 1994-1995, Dr. Ünlü served as the Chair of IEEE Laser and Electro-Optics Society, Boston Chapter, winning the LEOS Chapter-of-the-Year Award. He served as the vice president of SPIE New England Chapter in 1998–1999. He was awarded National Science Foundation Research Initiation Award in 1993, United Nations TOKTEN award in 1995 and 1996, and both the National Science Foundation CAREER and Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Awards in 1996. Dr. Ünlü has been selected as a LEOS Distinguished Lecturer for 2005-2007 and Australian Research Council Nanotechnology Network (ARCNN) Distinguished Lecturer for 2007. He has been elevated to IEEE Fellow rank in 2007 for his contributions to optoelectronic devices. He is the recepient of Turkish Scientific Foundation (TUBITAK) Science Award (Ozel Odul)

Dr. Ünlü is a recognized expert on photodetectors and nanophotonics. He has presented more than 100 invited talks at conferences, departmental colloquia and other research institutions and participated in international conference organizations. Dr. Ünlü has authored and co-authored more than 250 technical articles and several book chapters and magazine articles; edited one book; holds three US patents; and has several patents pending. During 1999–2001, he has served as the chair of the IEEE/LEOS technical subcommittee on photodetectors and imaging, and currently serving as the founding chair of IEEE/LEOS technical subcommittee on Nanophotonics. He is an Associate Editor for IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics.

Dr. Ünlü’s career goal is to continue active participation in advanced research and administration in a broad range of science and engineering, in particular nanophotonic, and biophotonics working in an intellectually challenging environment that will allow him to utilize his broad expertise and skills to reach his full potential.