Rate My Professor Arto Nurmikko

Arto V. Nurmikko is the L. Herbert Ballou University Professor of Engineering and Professor of Physics at Brown University in the School of Engineering. A native of Finland, he earned his B.S. in electrical engineering in 1968, M.S. in 1969, and Ph.D. in 1971 from the University of California, Berkeley. He completed postdoctoral work at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Throughout his career, Nurmikko has focused on advancing neuroengineering, photonics, microelectronics, and nanosciences, directing the Neuroengineering and Nanophotonics Laboratory (N3 Lab) at Brown University. His research specializes in device science for implantable neural interfaces, ultracompact semiconductor light emitters, and ultrafast optical switching of magnetism.

Nurmikko has published more than 400 journal articles and has significantly impacted the field through innovations in wireless neural interfaces and brain-machine interfaces, including contributions to the BrainGate consortium. Key publications include 'Patterned electrical brain stimulation by a wireless network of implantable microdevices' (Nature Communications, 2024), 'An asynchronous wireless network for capturing event-driven data from large populations of autonomous sensors' (Nature Electronics, 2024), 'Challenges for Large-Scale Cortical Interfaces' (Neuron, 2020), 'Wireless neurosensor for full-spectrum electrophysiology recordings during free behavior' (Neuron, 2014), and 'Transparent intracortical microprobe array for simultaneous spatiotemporal optical stimulation and multichannel electrical recording' (Nature Methods, 2015). His achievements are recognized by numerous honors: Fellow of the American Physical Society, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and Optical Society of America; Guggenheim Fellowship; election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Academy of Sciences and Letters of Finland; co-winner of the 2013 Israel Brain Prize; honorary doctorate from Aalto University in 2023; Inventor of the Year by Brown Technology Innovation in 2025; and ranking among the top two percent of the world's scientists in 2025. He has led multi-institutional research teams, advised federal funding agencies, lectured worldwide, and served on advisory boards of academic and research organizations.