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Justus Ndukaife

Visiting Associate Professor Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Vanderbilt University
The trailblazers in human, academic, scientific and religious freedom have always been in the minority… It will take such a small committed minority to work unrelentingly to win the uncommitted majority. Such a group may transform America’s greatest dilemma into her most glorious opportunity.
— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Background

Justus C. Ndukaife, Ph.D., is a Chancellor Faculty Fellow and Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Vanderbilt University. He earned his B.Sc. with First Class Honors from the University of Lagos, Nigeria, and his M.S. with Distinction from Purdue University Northwest. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Purdue University, where he was awarded the 2017 Chorafas Prize as the university’s top graduating doctoral candidate.

Dr. Ndukaife is internationally recognized for pioneering a new generation of optical nanotweezers—light-powered tools capable of trapping, imaging, and analyzing nanoscale objects beyond the reach of conventional laser tweezers. His research is transforming single-particle manipulation and analysis, with applications spanning extracellular vesicle characterization, nanoplastics detection in water and biological fluids, and quantum emitter placement for quantum technologies. His work has been published in leading journals, including Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Communications, Nano Letters, and Physical Review Letters.

His contributions have earned numerous honors, including an NIH Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA), Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, NSF CAREER Award, Optica Kaminow Outstanding Early Career Professional Prize, Vanderbilt Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research, and National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Golden Torch Award. He is a Senior Member of Optica, SPIE, and IEEE, and a recipient of the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship, which he has used to mentor and support emerging scholars in West-Africa.

Beyond his research accomplishments, Dr. Ndukaife is deeply committed to mentorship and developing the next generation of scientists and engineers. His students have received numerous Best Paper and research awards, reflecting his dedication to fostering excellence in research, innovation, and professional development.

Interests

Extracellular vesicles, nanoplastics, microplastics, drug delivery, diagnostics, PFAS, quantum emitters, nanophotonics, quantum communication, thermal radiation, meta surfaces, BIC, gas sensing, free-space communication, nanotechnology, biosensing, environmental monitoring, quantum light sources, and miniaturization

Sample Work

  • Publication

    Stand-off trapping and manipulation of sub-10 nm objects and biomolecules using opto-thermo-electrohydrodynamic tweezers

    Hong, C., Yang, S. & Ndukaife, J.C. Stand-off trapping and manipulation of sub-10 nm objects and biomolecules using opto-thermo-electrohydrodynamic tweezers. Nat. Nanotechnol. 15, 908–913 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-020-0760-z

  • Publication

    Scalable trapping of single nanosized extracellular vesicles using plasmonics

    Hong, C., Ndukaife, J.C. Scalable trapping of single nanosized extracellular vesicles using plasmonics. Nat Commun 14, 4801 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40549-7

  • Publication

    Engineering Thermal Emission with Enhanced Emissivity and Quality Factor Using Bound States in the Continuum and Electromagnetically Induced Absorption

    G. Zhu, I. Hong, K. Li, et al. “Engineering Thermal Emission with Enhanced Emissivity and Quality Factor Using Bound States in the Continuum and Electromagnetically Induced Absorption.” Adv. Optical Mater.14, no. 6 (2026): e01257. https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.202501257

  • Publication

    Rapid trapping and label-free optical characterization of single nanoscale extracellular vesicles and nanoparticles in solution

    Hong, I., Hong, C., Anyika, T. et al. Rapid trapping and label-free optical characterization of single nanoscale extracellular vesicles and nanoparticles in solution. Light Sci Appl 15, 180 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-026-02201-z

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