Matthew Crane earns DARPA Young Faculty Award for optical memory research

A Colorado School of Mines assistant professor has been selected for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s 2026 Young Faculty Award for work that could help overcome a major bottleneck in computing: moving information quickly and efficiently between where it is stored and where it is needed.

Matthew Crane, assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering, will focus his research on developing new materials and manufacturing methods for low-power optical memories that could help address limitations in computing bandwidth.

“Winning this award is an enormous boost,” Crane said. “It is always challenging to fund high-risk, high-reward ideas, and I’m incredibly grateful that DARPA saw the same promise that I did in this research. The award directly interfaces lab-scale ideas with scientists and engineer mentors who are thinking about rapidly scaling up technologies. I’m excited to work alongside these mentors to realize these technologies.”

Today’s computing systems rely heavily on moving electronic signals between memory and processors. As computing demands grow, though, that transfer of data can become a significant bottleneck, limiting the speed and efficiency of information processing. Crane’s research explores how light-based technologies could offer a new approach to storing and accessing information.

Rather than relying exclusively on electrons to move information, optical computing technologies use light to transmit signals. Crane and his research team are developing manufacturing processes that integrate promising optical materials with waveguides — structures that guide light through a device — to enable new forms of optical memory.

The approach uses vapor deposition to manufacture tailored materials at high throughput, with the goal of integrating them into devices that can store information optically while consuming less power. The work could contribute to future computing and information-processing technologies where bandwidth and energy efficiency are increasingly important.

DARPA’s Young Faculty Award program identifies promising early-career faculty researchers and pairs awardees with DARPA program manager mentors to help connect innovative university research with emerging national security needs.

The 2026 awards provide funding of up to $500,000 over 24 months, with an option for an additional 12 months and up to $500,000 in additional funding. Crane’s 2026 award totals $620,000 because of extra funding that was included to allow him to expand his research.

Crane’s award follows his recognition as one of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ 35 Under 35, highlighting his emerging contributions to chemical engineering research and innovation. Crane holds a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology. He joined the Mines faculty in 2022.

A second member of the Mines community, alum James Crawford, was also named to the 2026 DARPA Young Faculty Award class. Crawford earned his PhD in chemical engineering from Mines in 2022 and is now a faculty member at Montana State University.