Kirch honored for innovations in semiconducting technology

On April 29, 2026, Grainger Dean Devesh Ranjan hosted a celebration at which he recognized engineering faculty and staff for outstanding daily work that shapes the heart of our college.

Jeremy Kirch, a scientist in electrical and computer engineering, received the Bollinger Academic Staff Distinguished Achievement Award for Research Excellence.

Kirch works in the globally important area of semiconductor materials and has played a pivotal role in advancing our research. He’s an expert in metal-organic chemical vapor deposition—a method for creating new materials by combining chemical “ingredients”—and in characterizing those semiconductor materials. He has been a critical contributor in research that has led to more than 65 journal papers and is a co-inventor on four issued patents.

Kirch also mentors and trains graduate students and ensures our equipment remains operational. He’s been instrumental in many upgrades and, when a new system unexpectedly remained idle, he led an initiative to bring it back online—an effort that helped to entice key faculty, attract new industry partners, and shed even greater light on our impact in semiconductor research and in workforce development.