Nerissa Draeger, Lam Research

Candidate for Vice President

Dr. Nerissa Draeger is a senior innovation leader in the Office of the CTO at Lam Research, a semiconductor equipment company. Her vision of innovation lives at the intersection of emerging technologies, strategy, and people. As Director of Global University Engagements at Lam, she drives open innovation programs, guides external research collaborations, and builds academic partnerships to foster diversity in Lam’s technology and talent pipelines. She has overseen university collaborations with more than 80 academic institutions across five continents to translate academic research into commercial impact. With over 24 years of experience in the semiconductor industry, Dr. Draeger has managed pathfinding programs on materials for electronic devices and introduced new products for advanced deposition and etch processes at Lam Research and Novellus Systems. She worked in strategic business and intellectual property development to expand the technical direction of the company. She is experienced at directing programs and partnerships to catalyze new ideas, building a community of innovation champions, and nurturing research translation to commercialization. Her technical area of expertise is in thin film deposition and surface science, with a focus on atomic layer processes for nanoelectronics. She has authored over 30 patents and numerous technical publications. She earned her Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her B.S.E. from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. 

Dr. Draeger is currently serving on the Board of Directors of the Materials Research Society. She is the elected Chair of the Board of Directors for UIDP, where she contributes to their governance, strategic vision, and growth of their membership. As an industry advisory to academic research consortia, she seeks to promote interdisciplinary and cross-institutional collaboration and to connect students, faculty, and industry researchers to solve tomorrow’s challenges.

Candidate's Statement

Being members of the Materials Research Society enables us to connect, learn, innovate, and inspire across disciplines and boundaries. MRS has a fifty-year history of success in convening people and their ideas, sharing knowledge, and promoting interdisciplinary research.

MRS serves the needs of its members across their careers and my involvement with the Society has grown from my graduate student years through the transition to a corporate position and subsequent industry leadership. During that time, the research enterprise has become more complex and the demands on our attention have risen. Moving forward, the Society needs to continue to broaden participation, share learning through events and publications, and advocate for materials research to continue to provide benefit to members.

Ways to broaden our global membership include welcoming the next generation of students through university chapters and creating engagement opportunities for new professionals. We also need to improve retention of members throughout the full span of their careers. Finally, we must continue to be inclusive and egalitarian so that all feel welcome in our community.

MRS serves as a valuable platform for sharing materials knowledge. We must continue to expand communications through virtual, print and in-person channels. Increasing our webinars and virtual programming will reach more of our global membership while still maintaining the value of the in-person Spring and Fall Meetings. Increasing the impact of MRS journals should continue to be a focus as well as increasing the publication of research presented at meetings.

Through all of the programs, events and communications, we must continue to advocate for the value of fundamental and applied materials research and its impact on the environment, our health and quality of life, and the economy.

With my current experience on the MRS Board of Directors (2022-2024) and my leadership roles across industry and the innovation ecosystem, I have broad skills to contribute to the Society. If elected as an officer of MRS, I will contribute to the Society’s mission through understanding member needs, building engagement, and guiding the long-term vision.

I believe that MRS can promote materials solutions for the world’s most pressing challenges, and I would be honored to serve the Society in this role.