Tiffany Santos

Tiffany Suzanne Santos (born 1980)[1] is an American electrical engineer and materials scientist who works for the research division of Western Digital as an expert on tunnel magnetoresistance, non-volatile memory, and magnetic thin-film memory, and as Director of Non-Volatile Memory Materials Research.[2][3]

Education and career

Santos is the daughter of Ted Santos, a physician and pathologist in Valdosta, Georgia. After graduating as salutatorian from Valdosta High School,[4] she became a student of materials science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she received a bachelor's degree in 2002 and a Ph.D. in 2007 under the supervision of Jagadeesh Moodera.[2] She received the Outstanding Senior Thesis award of the MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering for her bachelor's thesis, Ferromagnetic Europium Oxide as a Spin-Filter Material.[5] Her doctoral dissertation, Europium oxide as a perfect electron spin filter,[1] was based on research applying magnetic materials in spintronics.[6]

She became a postdoctoral researcher and then staff scientist at the Argonne National Laboratory before joining Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (HGST) in 2011.[2] HGST was acquired by Western Digital in 2012.[7]

Recognition

Santos received the L’Oréal USA Fellowship for Women in Science in 2009.[4][8] In 2022 she was a distinguished lecturer of the IEEE Magnetics Society.[2]

She was named as a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) in 2024, after a nomination from the APS Topical Group on Magnetism and Its Applications, "for innovative contributions in synthesis and characterization of novel ultrathin magnetic films and interfaces, and tailoring their properties for optimal performance, especially in magnetic data storage and spin-transport devices".[9]

References

  1. ^ a b Santos, Tiffany S. (2007), Europium oxide as a perfect electron spin filter (Ph.D. thesis), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, hdl:1721.1/39538
  2. ^ a b c d Tiffany S. Santos, IEEE Magnetics Society, retrieved 2024-12-22
  3. ^ Herreria, Anne (March 7, 2023), Inventor Tiffany Santos: The Patience and Thrill of Discovery, Western Digital, retrieved 2024-12-22
  4. ^ a b Butler, Elizabeth (June 16, 2009), "Valdostan capture national fellowship for women scientists", Valdosta Daily Times, retrieved 2024-12-22
  5. ^ "Materials science and engineering announces awards", MIT News, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, June 12, 2002, retrieved 2024-12-22
  6. ^ "New material puts its own spin on electronics", MIT News, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, May 24, 2006, retrieved 2024-12-22
  7. ^ Byford, Sam (March 9, 2012), "Western Digital completes $4.8b Hitachi GST buyout, becomes world's largest HDD manufacturer", The Verge, retrieved 2024-12-22
  8. ^ Argonne scientist wins prestigious L'Oreal Fellowship for work in materials science, Argonne National Laboratory, May 27, 2009, retrieved 2024-12-22
  9. ^ APS Fellows archive, American Physical Society, retrieved 2024-12-22