Bell Labs Scientist Named to MIT Technology Review Magazine’s List of World’s Top 35 Researchers Under 35

Ashok Maliakal Recognized for Pioneering Work in Organic Electronics.

SEPTEMBER 14, 2006 - MURRAY HILL, N.J. - Bell Labs, the R&D arm of Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU), today announced that Ashok Maliakal, one of its materials scientists, has been named as one of Technology Review magazine´s TR35, a list of the top 35 innovators in the world under the age of 35. Maliakal continues the trend of including at least one Bell Labs scientist among the winners since the list´s inception in 1999.

Honorees include individuals whose “groundbreaking work has a profound effect on our world, launching new businesses and creating new industries,” according to Technology Review, MIT´s magazine of innovation. Each of the 2006 winners “exemplifies the spirit of innovation in business, technology and the arts.”

Maliakal´s work focuses on the design and development of nano-structured organic and hybrid materials for advanced electronic applications. His research is paving the way for design and development of functional electronic materials that will lead to new, fully integrated devices and sub-systems, as well as low-cost fabrication methodologies and increased functionality.

For example, he has made significant contributions to the development of what is expected to be a revolutionary technology that allows the mass production of low-cost electronics using common printing technologies similar to those used to print newspapers and magazines today. In order to reduce the voltage and power requirements of printed electronic circuits, a new printable material having a dielectric constant much larger than conventional polymers was needed. Maliakal invented a printable hybrid organic-inorganic material that formed good films with triple the permittivity of known polymers. This material is currently being investigated in devices.

Because these integrated circuits can be printed onto plastic, one of the most promising avenues of this work is in the production of flexible electronic displays. In contrast to typical silicon-based electronics, which is based on a rigid material that requires a high temperature manufacturing process, printed electronics have the potential to produce a low-cost, foldable, bendable display devices that can be mass produced for applications such as large area sensor networks, flexible and/or very large display backplanes and lightweight viewing screens for various handheld devices. Bell Labs demonstrated the first flexible electronic paper prototype with E Ink in 2001 and has continued to collaborate with industry leaders on advancing the field.

“Ashok combines a background in organic/inorganic synthesis, polymerization, nanotechnology, kinetics, and instrumentation to conceive imaginative, interdisciplinary approaches to research, particularly in the organic electronics field,” said Elsa Reichmanis, director, Materials for Communications Research, Bell Labs. “He is an outstanding example of an innovative thinker and we are thrilled to see his accomplishments recognized by Technology Review.”

Maliakal currently has five patents awarded or pending and has published more than 16 papers. He holds a Bachelor´s degree in Chemistry from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Columbia University. He joined Bell Labs as a post-doctoral fellow in 2003 and became a full-time researcher in 2005. He is a member of the American Chemical Society, the Inter-American Photochemical Society and the Materials Research Society.

About Bell Labs and Lucent Technologies

Bell Labs is the leading source of new communications technologies and has been for eighty years. It has generated more than 31,000 patents since 1925 and has played a pivotal role in inventing or perfecting key communications technologies, including transistors, digital networking and signal processing, lasers and fiber-optic communications systems, communications satellites, cellular telephony, electronic switching of calls, touch-tone dialing, and modems. Bell Labs scientists have received six Nobel Prizes in Physics, nine U.S. National Medals of Science and eight U.S. National Medals of Technology. For more information about Bell Labs, visit its Web site at http://www.bell-labs.com.

Lucent Technologies designs and delivers the systems, services and software that drive next-generation communications networks. Backed by Bell Labs research and development, Lucent uses its strengths in mobility, optical, software, data and voice networking technologies, as well as services, to create new revenue-generating opportunities for its customers, while enabling them to quickly deploy and better manage their networks. Lucent´s customer base includes communications service providers, governments and enterprises worldwide. For more information on Lucent Technologies, which has headquarters in Murray Hill, N.J., USA, visit http://www.lucent.com.

Contact Information

Devon Prutzman

Lucent Technologies Bell Labs

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