Professor Doolittle is a native of Jonesboro, Georgia. He graduated from Georgia Tech with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering with highest honors in 1989. He later received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering in 1996 from Georgia Tech.
His thesis work revolved around identifying the device limiting defects in photovoltaic silicon materials using several custom designed and patented tools. He later worked as a Research Engineer II in the area of compound semiconductor growth with emphasis on wide bandgap semiconductors. He joined the Georgia Tech faculty in 2001.
During his time at Georgia Tech he has helped develop academic programs in the areas of microelectronic fabrication, materials growth, characterization, and measurement system design. Professor Doolittle consults with industry in the areas of law, materials testing, MBE growth, and test equipment development.
His hobbies include bible studies, classic cars, playing the guitar, and reading. Most of his free time is spent with his two teenage children.
- Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1996
- B.S., Electrical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1989
Doolittle's research focuses on semiconductor physics and device engineering, including the characterization and modeling of electronic and optoelectronic materials and devices. His work involves investigating carrier transport phenomena, heterostructures, and novel device architectures to enhance performance and functionality. The research program integrates experimental techniques and theoretical analysis to advance understanding of semiconductor behavior for applications in microelectronics and photonics.
Doolittle's teaching interests encompass core electrical and computer engineering subjects, with emphasis on analog and digital electronics, semiconductor devices, and circuit design. He is committed to providing a rigorous educational foundation for both undergraduate and graduate students, integrating theoretical principles with practical applications. His pedagogy actively engages students in understanding device physics and electronic systems, preparing them for advanced study and professional practice in electrical engineering.
- Dr. Doolittle has authored/co-authored over 118 research papers and 101 presentations (34 invited) as well as numerous technical reports and patents.
- Dr. Doolittle was the lead PI on two MURI programs focusing on the development of next generation epitaxial systems for three-dimensional epitaxy and on the development and exploitation of epitaxial multifunctional oxides, a newly developing family of materials.
- In 2004, Dr. Doolittle received a NSF CAREER award for his efforts to integrate, understand, and utilize crystalline ferroelectric materials with wide bandgap semiconductors.
- In both 2003 and again in 2011, Dr. Doolittle won the Richard M. Bass/Eta Kappa Nu ECE Outstanding Teacher Award, and in 2003, he also won the Institute-wide Georgia Tech Undergraduate Student Government Faculty of the Year Award.
- Dr. Doolittle won the 2005 ECE Outstanding Junior Faculty Member Award and the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company's Dean's Award for Teaching Excellence.
- Dr. Doolittle won the Class of 1940 Teaching Award in 2006, and the 2008 Georgia Institute of Technology Outstanding Achievement in Research Program Development Award.
- WA Doolittle, H Ahmad, ZP Engel, CM Matthews, K Motoki, ..., Aluminum nitride-based high power devices and methods of making the same, US Patent App. 18/727,145, 2025
- CM Matthews, K Motoki, H Ahmad, Z Engel, S Lee, EN Marshall, ..., Impact and mitigation of surface oxides on aluminum nitride substrates, Applied Surface Science 688, 162208, 2025
- K Motoki, Z Engel, TM McCrone, H Chung, CM Matthews, S Lee, ..., Improved crystallographic order of ScAlN/GaN heterostructures grown at low temperatures under metal rich surface conditions, Journal of Applied Physics 135(13), 2024
- MSB Hoque, ME Liao, S Zare, Z Liu, YR Koh, K Huynh, J Shi, S Graham, ..., Experimental observation of ballistic to diffusive transition in AlN thin films, arXiv:2409.14328, 2024
- MSB Hoque, YR Koh, S Zare, ME Liao, K Huynh, MS Goorsky, Z Liu, J Shi, ..., Experimental observation of ballistic to diffusive transition in phonon thermal transport of AlN thin films, Applied Physics Letters 125(26), 2024