FIRST Welcomes New Director
FIRST is delighted to welcome its new Director after a nationwide search. Dr. Sharmila Mukhopadhyay has accepted the position, and started on Jan 1, 2020.
Dr. Mukhopadhyay’s vision of FIRST is to help this grow into a world class Institute leading research, education and development of cutting-edge sensor systems relevant to societal grand challenges and economic well-being. She believes that advanced sensors and related technologies are bottlenecks to many of the global humanitarian challenges of today, ranging from clean water and eco-friendly infrastructure to disaster relief, health care and national security. Her own research involves multifunctional nanomaterials, composites and hybrid structures for energy, environment, and biomedical applications. She received her B.S. and M.S. degrees from Indian Institute of Technology and Ph.D. from Cornell University. Prior to joining FIRST on Jan 1, 2020, Dr. Mukhopadhyay was Professor of Mechanical and Materials Engineering Department of Wright State University (WSU) and founding Director of their National Academies-Grand Challenges Scholar’s Program, as well as the Center for Nanoscale Multifunctional Materials. She has also served as Jefferson Science Fellow with the National Academies, where she was Senior Scientific Advisor for the US Department of State.
Prof. Mukhopadhyay has over 150 publications and served as PI of 50 research projects funded by variety of agencies such as NSF, DOE, AFOSR, AFRL, NASA, OBOR, EPA, as well as private foundations and industry. She serves on editorial boards of journals, review panels of funding agencies, and on executive committees of professional societies as well as community outreach groups. She has organized and co-organized several national and international symposia, and is past chair of the Electronics Division of American Ceramic Society. She is recipient of the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award, and is an elected Fellow of the American Ceramic Society.