Today, Lightmatter announced CEO Nick Harris has been named to MIT Technology Review’s prestigious annual list of Innovators Under 35. Every year, the world-renowned media company has recognized a list of exceptionally talented technologists whose work has great potential to transform the world.

As a PhD candidate and then post doctoral fellow at MIT, Harris paved the way for a new paradigm in semiconductor chip architecture and the next transition for large-scale computing. His doctoral thesis, “Programmable nanophotonics for quantum information processing and artificial intelligence,” laid the groundwork for innovation at Lightmatter – chips that use photons instead of electrons to compute. Most recently, Harris’ team announced Passage, a new wafer-scale solution to enable computer chips to communicate at unprecedented speeds; Envise, the world’s first, general-purpose photonic AI accelerator; and Idiom, software that interfaces with deep learning frameworks and models to optimize inference speed and accuracy.

Tim Maher, Managing Editor of MIT Technology Review, said: “We get more than 500 nominations for the list every year, and getting that list down to 35—a task not only for the editors at MIT Technology Review but also for our 30+ judges—is one of the hardest things we do each year. We love the way the final list always shows what a wide variety of people there are, all around the world, working on creative solutions to some of humanity's hardest problems.”

Learn more about this year’s honorees on the MIT Technology Review website here and in the July/August issue, which goes live online June 30. The honorees are also featured at the upcoming EmTech MIT conference, MIT Technology Review’s annual flagship event that offers a carefully curated perspective on the most significant developments of the year, with a focus on understanding their potential business and societal impact. EmTech MIT will be held online September 28-30, 2021. Click here to learn more about the event.

About Lightmatter

Lightmatter is leading the evolution of computing to reduce its impact on our planet, while also enabling the next giant leaps in human progress. By unifying the unique properties of light as an ideal carrier of information, with the interoperability of electronics, Lightmatter creates photonic processors and interconnect that are faster, more efficient, and cooler than anything else on earth.

About MIT Technology Review

Founded in 1899, MIT Technology Review is a world-renowned, independent media company whose insight, analysis, and interviews explain the newest technologies and their commercial, social, and political impacts. MIT Technology Review derives its authority from its relationship to the world's foremost technology institution and from its editors' deep technical knowledge, capacity to see technologies in their broadest context, and unequaled access to leading innovators and researchers. MIT Technology Review's mission is to bring about better-informed and more conscious decisions about technology through authoritative, influential, and trustworthy journalism. Subscribe. Listen. Follow: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram.

About the EmTech event series

MIT Technology Review's EmTech series examines emerging technologies that will drive the new global economy. From mainstage keynotes to Q&As and small discussions, these events provide a curated view of the year's most important developments. EmTech gives attendees the opportunity to discover future trends and learn from the most innovative people and companies in the world. Established more than 20 years ago, EmTech events have become a must-attend for entrepreneurs, business leaders, innovators, policy influencers, media, and more. This year's EmTech events in the United States include EmTech Digital, March 23-25; EmTech Next, June 8-10; and EmTech MIT, September 28-30. Learn more.

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