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The Wang Group

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About Us

Wang Group are engaged in the research of magnetic nanotechnologies, information storage, and biosensing and edge AI, broadly defined, including magnetic biochips, in vitro diagnostics, biomarkers, cell sorting, magnetic nanoparticles, nano-patterning, spin electronic materials and sensors, magnetic inductive heads, as well as magnetic integrated inductors and transformers. The group uses modern thin-film growth techniques, lithography, and nanofabrication to engineer new electromagnetic materials and devices and to study their behavior at nanoscale and at very high frequencies.  The group is investigating magnetic nanoparticles, high saturation soft magnetic materials, giant magnetoresistance spin valves, magnetic tunnel junctions, and spin electronic materials, with applications in cancer nanotechnology, in vitro diagnostics, spin-based information processing, efficient energy conversion and storage, and extremely high-density magnetic recording. In more recent years, the group has embarked on big data mining for biomarker discovery, drug development, and AI applications in biomedicine.

Wang Group conducts research in the Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials (GLAM), Stanford Nanofabrication Facility (SNF) and Stanford Nano Shared Facilities (SNSF), Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (CCNE) hosted at Stanford, and Stanford Cancer Institute.  The Center for Magnetic Nanotechnology (formerly CRISM) directed by Dr. Wang has close ties with the Information Storage Industry and co-sponsors The Magnetic Recording Conference (TMRC).

The Group PI, Dr. Shan X. Wang, is the Leland T. Edwards Professor in the School of Engineering and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, jointly of Electrical Engineering and, by courtesy, of Radiology (Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford). He directs the Center for Magnetic Nanotechnology and is a leading expert in biosensors, information storage and spintronics. His research and inventions span across a variety of areas including magnetic biochips, in vitro diagnostics, cancer biomarkers, magnetic nanoparticles, magnetic sensors, magnetoresistive random access memory, and magnetic integrated inductors. He has over 300 publications, and holds 70 issued or pending patents in these and interdisciplinary areas. He was named an inaugural Fred Terman Fellow, and was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a Fellow of American Physical Society (APS) and a Fellow of National Academy of Inventors (FNAI) for his seminal contributions to magnetic materials, nanosensors and cancer diagnostics. His team won the Grand Challenge Exploration Award from Gates Foundation (2010), the XCHALLENGE Distinguished Award (2014), and the Bold Epic Innovator Award from the XPRIZE Foundation (2017). He coauthored two textbooks: Magnetic Information Storage Technology (Academic Press) and Biochips and Medical Imaging (Wiley). Dr. Wang cofounded six high-tech startups in Silicon Valley, including Curve Biosciences, Magic Lifescience, MagArray, and Flux Biosciences. In 2018 MagArray launched a first of its kind lung cancer early diagnostic assay based on protein cancer biomarkers and support vector machine (SVM). In 2023, Curve Biosciences demonstrated a circulating tumor DNA NGS assay, enabling early detection of liver cancer from cirrhosis with unprecedented sensitivity and specificity (both ≥95%). Through his participation and leadership in Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence and Semiconductor Research Corp (SRC) programs, he is actively engaged in the transformative research of healthcare and is developing emerging memories for energy efficient computing and edge AI.

Open Postdoctoral Position

Center for Magnetic Nanotechnology (CMN) at Stanford University is recruiting an outstanding candidate to fill a postdoctoral fellow position to work on emerging MRAM technology.  Please click the link below for detailed information.

In the Spotlight

Prof. Shan Wang receives the 2025 IEEE Magnetics Society Achievement Award!

Prof. Shan Wang is honored with IEEE Magnetics Society Achievement Award at the Joint MMM-Intermag Conf. in New Orleans on Jan. 16, 2025. The citation reads: " For sustained contributions to magnetic nanotechnology, biosensors, and spintronics, and for bridging magnetics and biomedicine communities“. The IEEE Magnetics Society Achievement Award recognizes extraordinary contributions to magnetics through exceptional technical accomplishments and contributions to the field. The Achievement Award is the highest honor bestowed by the Magnetics Society. Read about it here.

Prof. Wang credits the past and current members of the Wang Group and numerous collaborators for enabling this tremendous recognition from our own scholarly community. The Honor Roll of the past Achievement Awardees can be found here: https://ieeemagnetics.org/award/society-award/ieee-achievement-award#recipients

Congratulations to all the 2025 IEEE Magnetics Society Award Winners, including Prof. Hyunsoo Yang (NUS, Stanford EE alum), Dr. Hans Nembach (NIST), and Prof. Jiahao Han (Tohoku University)!  More details can be found at: https://ieeemagnetics.org/post/announcement/congratulations-2025-ieee-magnetics-society-award-winners

In the Spotlight

Prof. Nian Sun (Northeastern University, Stanford PhD, 2001, Wang Group alum) is elected to 2024 Class Fellows of National Academy of Inventors (NAI)!

Nian Sun, a COE Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Northeastern University, has dedicated his career to advancing magnetic, ferroelectric, and multiferroic materials. His pioneering research integrates these materials into microsystems for various applications, including sensing, memory, and RF electronics. Sun’s work has led to the development of novel electrochemical sensors that diagnose diseases such as Alzheimer’s, lung cancer, and diabetes.

After earning his Ph.D. from Stanford University, Sun held research positions at IBM and Hitachi Global Storage Technologies before joining Northeastern. His extensive list of honors includes the Humboldt Research Award, the Søren Buus Outstanding Research Award, the NSF CAREER Award, and more. Sun has published over 280 papers, holds more than 30 patents, and is a Fellow of IEEE, the American Physical Society, and other prestigious organizations.

More details can be found at: https://cri.northeastern.edu/northeastern-professors-tommaso-melodia-and-nian-sun-honored-as-nai-fellows/

 

 

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