Troy, N.Y. — Omkaram “Om” Nalamasu has been appointed as vice president for research at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

“Dr. Nalamasu is well positioned to lead our universitywide effort to take research to the next level,” said Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson in announcing the appointment today.  “He has respect for research work across the spectrum of academic disciplines at Rensselaer. He believes strongly that research at the interface of bio, nano, and information technologies, and entrepreneurship integrated with education, are the key ingredients for the success of a leading university. He is passionate about public-private partnerships to conduct competitive research, and is a strong believer that universities should take a larger leadership role in catalyzing economic development through technology commercialization partnerships.”

Research funding at Rensselaer has increased exponentially over the last few years, increasing from $37 million in 1998 to $90 million in 2004.  National Institutes of Health funding alone has increased from $400,000 to $24 million since 2000.

President Jackson noted that Nalamasu has extensive experience in leading large interdisciplinary R&D organizations, and a proven track record of conducting and managing research at the interface of materials science, chemistry, optics, electronics, and engineering disciplines to develop new science, technology, and products.

“He has developed innovative intellectual property approaches for generating cash and strategic value from patent portfolio through incubation, patent licensing, and/or technology transfer agreements,” President Jackson said. “Dr. Nalamasu has managed the process of transforming ideas into new products through technology transfer, including partnerships and joint development agreements.”

Nalamasu is director of the Center for Integrated Electronics, professor of materials science and engineering, and professor of chemistry at Rensselaer. He also serves as the co-director of Rensselaer’s Interconnect Focus Center and director of the recently funded Future Energy Systems CAT. He leads Rensselaer’s largest research center with more than $10 million in funding, 50 faculty members, and 100 graduate students, staff, and post-doctoral fellows.

He has published more than 170 papers, review articles, and book chapters; edited two books; and obtained 14 patents (plus six pending).  He also serves on several advisory boards including Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Center for Functional Nanomaterials and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Materials Science and Engineering Division.   

Before coming to Rensselaer in 2002, Nalamasu served as founder and chief technology officer of the New Jersey Nanotechnology Consortium.  The consortium is a public/private enterprise with Lucent Bell Labs, the New Jersey university system, the New Jersey Governor’s office, and with support from the U.S. Congress. In this position, he managed an operational budget of $30 million.

Nalamasu earned a B.Sc. in Chemistry and Biology (Osmania University), M.Sc. in Chemistry (University of Hyderabad), and Ph.D. in Chemistry (University of British Columbia). He began his professional career at AT&T Bell Laboratories in 1986 where he held a series of increasingly responsible positions, culminating as director, Nanofabrication Research Laboratory at Lucent Bell Labs. Prior to that, he served as director, MEMS and Waveguide Devices Research with Agere Systems Research (2000-01) and as director of Bell Labs’ Condensed Matter Physics and Nanotechnology Department.

Nalamasu’s appointment as vice president of research at Rensselaer is effective May 1, 2005.

Contact: Theresa Bourgeois
Phone: (518) 276-2840
E-mail: bourgt@rpi.edu