Brian Schulkin, a doctoral student in physics, is the winner of the first-ever $30,000 Lemelson-Rensselaer Student Prize. He has invented an ultralight, handheld terahertz spectrometer called the “Mini-Z.” Photo by Rensselaer/Kris Qua

Like many children, Brian Schulkin went through phases. Unlike most children, his phases involved caustic chemicals, explosive rockets, and model car sets so intricate they would have NASA engineers scratching their heads. Schulkin was a scientist and engineer from a young age.

Schulkin grew up in Oakland, N.J., the son of Robert Schulkin, a senior engineer and entrepreneur who currently owns his own company, and Elaine Schulkin, a draftsperson in a patent firm. His brother, Ben, is a Web programmer and musician.

Schulkin earned a double major in electrical engineering and applied physics at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). He began his research career at NJIT studying bio-optics, and he was part of a team looking at how various plastics and biological skins changed when being stretched and distorted. The research could one day help doctors non-invasively diagnose the extent of burn or brain aneurism damage in a patient.

Schulkin then researched flexible circuits, looking at how coatings that could potentially be used in complex circuitry bent and cracked under pressure and temperature changes. The research has broad implications for the next generation of smart coatings in electronics.

Following his graduation with degrees in electrical engineering and applied physics, Schulkin joined the NJIT research staff. It was during this time that he became interested in the most unexplored branch of the electromagnetic spectrum — terahertz rays (T-rays). As a research staff member at NJIT, Schulkin helped develop a terahertz frequency range that is capable of imaging an object one kilometer away. The research is applicable to the remote detection of drugs, explosives, and bio-agents. Schulkin also worked to create specialized silicon crystals that can be used as a filter for the terahertz frequency range.

The implications for the crystal’s use for communication between satellites caught the attention of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In the summer of 2002, Schulkin was named a NASA Space Grant Consortium Fellow and given a stipend to develop a terahertz imaging technology for satellite communication.

Upon acceptance to Rensselaer in 2004, Schulkin earned a prestigious Integrated Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) through the National Science Foundation. The IGERT fellowship at Rensselaer, which covers the full cost of tuition and includes a $30,000 per year stipend, is offered only to students with proven commitment to their research and outstanding academic performance. Schulkin’s fellowship is dedicated to terahertz science and technology, and has helped him pursue his research in T-ray technology, allowed him to work under the guidance of world-renowned T-ray expert and Rensselaer professor Xi-Cheng Zhang, and provided him with the resources that he needed to create the Mini-Z.

Schulkin completed his design and construction of the Mini-Z in astonishing time. Making a terahertz spectrometer that was portable and fully integrated with no external supporting equipment was thought to be either impossible or years in the future, but Schulkin completed the Mini-Z in mere months. The little machine could revolutionize the way researchers, doctors, scientists, and military intelligence can see the world.

In January, in recognition of the invention, Schulkin became the 2007 IMRA Fellow at The International Society of Optical Engineering’s yearly conference in California called Photonics West. The IMRA fellowship award is $50,000.

Schulkin’s creation of the Mini-Z has established him as a leader in the emerging field of terahertz spectroscopy. But he already has plans beyond this groundbreaking new invention. He hopes to help commercialize the laptop-sized Mini-Z and then begin work on a new, handheld terahertz spectrometer, an idea that no one would have believed before he joined Rensselaer’s terahertz research team.

Schulkin currently lives in Troy with his new wife, Jinye Zhao, who is also a graduate student at Rensselaer in mathematical sciences. He enjoys spending his few moments of free time with his wife watching movies or taking hikes, and he is a lover of Japanese animation and an artist. Schulkin hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps by becoming an entrepreneur and launching his own technology company.