Srinivas Sridhar, Distinguished Professor and chair of physics, and his team of researchers have created a new microlens that focuses infrared light at telecommunication frequencies. The new lens, which sets a world record by having one of the shortest focal lengths ever achieved, could lead to innovations in the manufacture of personal electronic devices. Sridhar’s team included Bernard Didier F. Casse, Wentao Lu, and Yongjiang Huang, all of the physics department.

Labor economics expert William Dickens has joined Northeastern as Distinguished Professor of Economics and Social Policy. He is an internationally renowned expert in the areas of labor markets, wage determination, unemployment, monetary policy, inner-city unemployment, the effects of trade on employment and wages, poverty, and income support. Dickens has taught at the University of Maryland; the University of California, Berkeley; and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A senior fellow in the economics studies program at the Brookings Institution, he was formerly a senior economist for the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.