Indian American scientist Dr. Sridhar Seetharaman has been named chair of materials science and engineering at Missouri University of Science & Technology.
He will begin his duties at Missouri S&T, a STEM-focused research university of over 7,000 students located in Rolla, Missouri in January, according to a university release. Part of the four-campus University of Missouri System, Missouri S&T offers over 100 degrees in 40 areas of study.
Seetharaman comes to S&T from Arizona State University, where he served since 2023 as chief science officer for the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering and CEO of EPIXC, a $140 million public-private partnership that is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute.
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He was also ASU’s Fulton Professor of Industrial Decarbonization since 2023, and from 2021 to 2023, he was the college’s vice dean of research and innovation.
“I have collaborated with Missouri S&T researchers for years and have always been impressed by the quality and impact of their work,” Seetharaman says. “It is an honor to now lead this department and support its world-class research efforts and degree programs.”
Before joining Arizona State, Seetharaman served as associate vice president for research and professor at Colorado School of Mines from 2017 to 2021. Earlier in his career, he held faculty appointments at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Warwick. He also served as a DOE senior technology advisor.
An expert on decarbonization and energy savings in industrial processes, he has authored more than 300 journal articles, conferences and book chapters and been awarded three U.S. patents. He is a 2004 recipient of the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program award.
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Seetharaman is an international member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, a Fellow and distinguished member of the Association of Iron and Steel Technology, and a Mercator Fellow of the German Research Foundation. He also has a joint faculty research appointment with the National Laboratory of the Rockies.
He chairs the Manufacturing USA Council for the National Institute of Standards and Technology and is a member of DOE’s Industrial Technology Innovation Advisory Committee.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Seetharaman to Missouri S&T,” says Dr. David Borrok, vice provost and dean of S&T’s College of Engineering and Computing. “His leadership and experience working at the intersection of academia, industry and government will be a tremendous benefit as he works to bring our materials science and engineering department to even greater heights.”
Seetharaman earned a PhD in material science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree in the same field at the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden.