David Erickson

David Erickson is the Sibley College Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Cornell University, where his work sits at the intersection of engineering, health, and global impact. His research focuses on developing technologies that move advanced measurement, diagnostics, and treatment closer to the people and settings where they are most needed — from point-of-care health systems to sustainability and energy applications.

He directs PORTENT, an NIH-funded center focused on point-of-care technologies for nutrition, infection, and cancer in global health, and co-directs the Cornell Joan Klein Jacobs Center for Precision Nutrition and Health. Through these roles, he works with clinicians, engineers, public health leaders, and industry partners to translate new technologies from the lab into practical use.  He previously served as the SC Thomas Sze Director of the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and as Associate Dean of Engineering for Research and Graduate Programs at Cornell.

Erickson’s work has led to multiple startup companies in biomedical diagnostics, pharmaceutical instrumentation, and energy technology, including Halo Labs, acquired by Waters Corporation in 2025, and Dimensional Energy. His research has been supported by major federal agencies, foundations, and global health organizations, including the NIH, NSF, DOE, DARPA, ARPA-E, ONR, USDA, USAID, the Gates Foundation, Bezos Earth Fund, Nutrition International, GAIN, and others.

Before joining Cornell, Erickson was a postdoctoral scholar at Caltech and received his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. Erickson has received the DARPA-MTO Young Faculty Award, the NSF CAREER Award, the Department of Energy Early Career Award, among others.  In 2011 he was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientist and Engineers (PECASE) from President Obama.  Erickson has been named a fellow of the Optical Society of America, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, and the Canadian Academy of Engineering.