Dr. Noureddine Melikechi
Biography
Melikechi was born in 1958 in the town of Thénia, in the wilaya of Boumerdès, Algeria. After graduating from Thénia's middle school, the young Noureddine left his town for the Lycee Abane Ramdane in El-Harrach, Algiers. There he received his Baccalaureate in Mathematics. He enrolled at the University Houari Boumediene of Sciences and Technology of Algiers where he earned a Diplôme d'Études Supérieures in Physics. He went on to pursue graduate work in England where he worked towards his Masters and Doctorate in the laboratory of Professor Leslie Allen on optical coherent control of electronic dipole transitions in sodium atoms.
Awards
- Fellow of the Optical Society of America, 2016
- Reconocimiento, El comité organizador del la luz de la cienca, en la cuidad de Mérida, Yucatan, Mexico, 2016
- Excellence Award for Youth Empowerment and Development in Africa, the “African Society for Engineering Management,” 2014
- NASA Group Achievement Award, Mars Science Laboratory ChemCam Instrument Development and Science Team, NASA, 2013
- Arfken Scholar-in-Residence, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, 2013
- Academic Research Award, the Delaware Bioscience Association, 2012
- Recognition Proclamation, State of Delaware Legislature, 2011
- Presidential Research Award, Delaware State University, 1998
Research interests
The Science of Spectral Signatures: Laser spectroscopy of complex systems in crowded environments with a focus on:
- Developing sensitive optical techniques for the early detection of cancers
- As a member of two NASA Mars missions (Curiosity and Mars 2020) analyzing laser induced breakdown spectra of Martian oils, dust and rocks.
- Developing experimental and numerical methodologies for isotopic identification and quantification using laser induced breakdown spectroscopy.
EMAIL: Noureddine_Melikechi@uml.edu
