Indian American professor Krishna Rajan leads multimillion dollar hunt for new materials

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An Indian-American professor who heads materials science research at the University at Buffalo, just received a multimillion dollar grant from the Toyota Research Institute for his department. The $2.4 million for materials science research grant announced March 31, aims to make next generation vehicles carbon-neutral.

Krishna Rajan, the Erich Bloch Endowed Chair of the Department of Materials Design and Innovation (MDI) at UB, is the grant’s principal investigator.

The award — part of a $35 million investment involving several universities and a materials research company — funds projects that use artificial intelligence to help accelerate the design and discovery of new materials. The materials will help create technology for batteries and fuel cell catalysts designed to power future zero-emission and carbon-neutral vehicles.

“At the University at Buffalo, we are committed to finding innovative and cost-effective solutions that transform how society addresses climate change, national security and other pressing issues,” said Rajan, who received his doctorate in materials science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1978,  minoring in science and technology policy.

An internationally renowned materials scientist, Rajan has authored or co-authored hundreds of publications and is the founding editor-in-chief of the Materials Discovery journal, and serves on numerous national and international panels, including the National Academy of Sciences’ Material Science and Engineering Panel at the Army Research Laboratory.

He has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the Alexander von Humboldt Research Award. that recognizes researchers who have had a significant impact in their discipline – in this case, materials informatics – and are expected to continue producing cutting-edge achievements.