When UCSB’s Shuji Nakamura began to list present applications of the white light-emitting diode (LED) he had invented, his PowerPoint show included an image of a Nokia cell phone screen. That brought a smile to the face of Manu Virtamo, Los Angeles consul general for Finland, who had earlier in the June 15 campus news conference confirmed Nakamura’s selection as recipient of Finland’s 2006 Millennium Technology Prize.

Nakamura was chosen for his invention of revolutionary new light sources—blue, green, and white light LEDs, and the blue laser diode—and their beneficial effects on people and the environment. He is the second person to be honored since the prize was created in 2004.

The award, which includes a cash prize of one million Euros (approximately $1.3-million), was announced in Helsinki the same day as the UCSB news conference. Sponsored by Finland’s Millennium Prize Foundation, it recognizes outstanding technological achievement aimed at promoting quality of life and sustainable development.

Nakamura is a professor of materials and of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering, where he co-directs the Solid State Lighting and Display Center. The President of Finland will present the award to him on September 8 in Helsinki.

“Professor Nakamura’s technological innovations in the field of semiconductor materials and devices are groundbreaking,” said Pekka Tarjanne, chairman of the International Award Selection Committee and former director-general of the International Telecommunications Union.

Tarjanne said that Nakamura’s inventions have important applications across an array of fields: in communication and information, for improving optical data storage and display; in energy and the environment, by enabling energy-efficient, solid-state lighting and power-switching technology; and in health care and life sciences, through ultraviolet light sources for water purification.

“Our entire campus joins me in applauding this extraordinary international recognition of Professor Shuji Nakamura’s pioneering research, which has led to the invention of revolutionary new energy-saving light sources that are better and brighter than conventional lighting,” said Chancellor Henry T. Yang. “We are overjoyed by this news and extremely proud of our distinguished colleague, to whom we offer our heartfelt congratulations.”

“Making the impossible possible is one of the great joys of science, and I am sure you are feeling a little of that now,” physicist Alan Heeger told Nakamura at the news conference. Heeger joined fellow Nobel Laureates Herbert Kroemer and Walter Kohn in praising and congratulating their colleague.

Reacting to the prize announcement, Nakamura thanked the Millennium Prize Foundation and the people of Finland for “recognizing my research in solid state lighting and its implications. I am very honored to receive this Millennium Technology Prize.

“The University of California has a motto,” he continued. “The English translation is, ‘Let there be light.’ This is a very good motto for our University. It also could serve as a motto for my own research. I hope that, as a result of my work, someday there will be lighting in parts of the world where today there is not even electricity.”

Nakamura added that he planned “to donate some of the Millennium Prize funds to further research at universities and to groups that help to implement solid state lighting in the Third World, like the groups called Light-Up-The-World or Engineers Without Borders.

The invenor joined the UCSB faculty in 2000, and in 2001 was appointed to the Cree Chair in Solid State Lighting and Display. He is currently developing thin-film technology.