Yoel Fink is the CEO of AFFOA and former director of the research laboratory of electronics (RLE) at MIT. RLE is MIT’s first interdisciplinary lab, with over 700 researchers and an annual budget of $60 million.
Fink is also a professor of materials science and electrical engineering at MIT. His research group has pioneered the field of multimaterial multifunctional fiber devices, and is focused on extending the frontiers of fiber materials to encompass electronic, optoelectronic and even acoustic properties for textile and composite applications.
He holds a BA in physics and a BSc in chemical engineering from the Technion in Israel, and a PhD from MIT in materials science and engineering. He is the recipient of multiple awards, among them the National Academies Initiatives in Research (2004), the MacVicar Fellowship (2007) for outstanding teaching and the Collier Medal (2016). Fink is a co-founder of OmniGuide Inc. (2000) and served as its chief executive officer from 2007 to 2010. He is the coauthor of over ninety scientific journal articles and holds over fifty issued U.S. patents on multimaterial fibers and devices. As RLE Director, he initiated the Translational Fellows Program, a postdoctoral initiative that facilitates research-derived ventures, and the Low Cost Renovation effort.