Dr. Somerville's technical research focuses on the physics of semiconductor devices, with particular emphasis development of novel measurement techniques to provide insight into failure mechanisms in devices ranging from III-V high electron mobility transistors to strained silicon-on-insulator transistors to germanium-based LED's.
Dr. Somerville has also collaborated extensively with other institutions, including the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, TU-Delft, and others, to spread change in engineering education, particularly through to application of collaborative design techniques to curriculum revision processes. He has also worked closely with other Olin faculty members to develop Olin's I2E2 Summer Institute, which draws engineering educators from around the world.