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2020 Meritorious Service Award – Elie K. Track

Elie K. Track, Ph.D.

CEO and Co-Founder of nVizix LLC
IEEE Fellow and Past President of the Yale Science & Engineering Association, Inc.

Elie Track came to Yale from the American University of Beirut, where he was class valedictorian. After earning his Ph.D. in Physics from Yale in 1988, he joined the technical staff at Hypres, Inc., a superconductor electronics firm, advancing quickly to become its President and CEO. Following Hypres, Elie co-founded nVizix LLC and currently serves as its CEO. At nVizix, he is focused on developing innovative high efficiency solar cells. Despite his demanding business responsibilities, Dr. Track has mentored students and served as a Professor of Physics at Fairfield University and at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Elie’s superconductor work has had applications in communications, high-performance computing, and quantum computing. He is a prolific author and collaborator, with over 50 publications in his field.

Dr. Track is an IEEE Fellow, co-Chair of the IEEE Rebooting Computing initiative, member of the steering committee of the IEEE Quantum initiative, and past President of the IEEE Council on Superconductivity. He has chaired major conferences and workshops, including the 2014 Applied Superconductivity Conference. He also served as Chairman of the Coalition for the Commercial Applications of Superconductors (CCAS) from 2008 to 2010.

Since joining the Executive Board of the Yale Science and Engineering Association (YSEA) in 1999, Elie has been a prominent volunteer in service to the Yale community. When he joined YSEA, he found an aging membership that needed to reconnect with Yale’s recent graduates. He enlisted his large professional and personal networks to recruit a broad base of alumni to YSEA’s general membership and Executive Board. His energy and enthusiasm for YSEA and Yale are infectious, and if he asked you to serve on a committee or take on a task, you were grateful for the opportunity. Many individuals he recruited remain active as YSEA volunteers.

As Chairman of YSEA’s High School Science Fair Committee, Dr. Track digitized and modernized YSEA’s program for recognizing outstanding STEM students around the world, helping to expand our reach and to identify likely candidates for admission to Yale. He also drove the creation of the first YSEA web site, enabling YSEA to reach members more effectively.

Dr. Track introduced annual strategic planning retreats to YSEA, transforming YSEA into a more proactive, disciplined, and forward-looking organization. He, along with F. Steele Blackall III and other distinguished alumni, created the YSEA Strategic Fund, the proceeds of which funded the Becton Plaza Design Project in collaboration with the Yale Urban Design Institute, revitalizing YSEA’s presence on campus. Working with Bill Glover, Joseph Cerro, and John Troutman, Dr. Track developed the Yale Endowment’s “Yale Science & Engineering Association Fund,” which today provides support for Yale student research projects, for YSEA Science Fair programs around the world, and for other Yale STEM initiatives. He also has served as a Board Member for the Yale Graduate School Alumni Association, where he led career-focused events for students and recent graduates.

A youth-oriented sportsman as well as a scholar and entrepreneur, Dr. Track has served as a Coach, Referee, Referee Trainer and Area Referee Administrator for organizations like the American Youth Soccer Organization, the United States Soccer Federation, and the National Federation of State High School Associations.

For over 20 years, Dr. Track’s professional and off-campus volunteer efforts have reflected credit upon Yale University, and his on-campus commitment to YSEA and to Yale has had a strong, positive impact on the University’s mission and reputation in science and engineering. For this reason, the Yale Science and Engineering Association proudly presents Elie K. Track, Ph.D. with the 2020 YSEA Award for Meritorious Service to Yale University.

In 2020, the Meritorious Service Award was given to two awardees: Elie K. Track and Joseph A. Cerro. To hear them both speak about their service to Yale, check out the video below!

A Conversation with Elie Track PhD ’88 and Joseph Cerro ’89

July 31, 2021