This Ph.D. is a University Professor of Materials Science and Engineering where he also holds the Sirrine Endowed Chair. Previously, he served as the interim Vice President for Research, Vice President for Economic Development,and directed for 14 years the Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies (COMSET).  He earned a B.S. in Ceramic Science and Engineering (1993) and the Ph.D. in Ceramic and Materials Engineering (1997) from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. He has published more than 350 archival scientific papers, holds 33 U.S. and foreign patents, has given in excess of 150 invited lectures/colloquia, and has co-organized 75 national and international conferences and symposia.

Among numerous other awards and honors, this Ph.D. has received the Schwartzwalder-PACE Award (NICE 2004) “in recognition of the nation’s outstanding young ceramic engineer whose achievements have been significant to the profession and the general welfare of the American people.”  He is a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society(ACerS), the International Society of Optical Engineering (SPIE), and the Optical Society of America (OSA). He is also an elected member of the World Academy of Ceramics (WAC) and the US National Academy of Inventors (NAI).

He has been a Principal Investigator (PI) on more than $56 million worth of sponsored programs, gifts and contracts.  He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Ceramic Society, Topical Editor for Optics Letters, and is an active participant on the “Optoelectronic Glasses,” technical committee for the International Commission on Glass.

• Optical fiber fabrication
• Optical properties of materials
• Optical glasses
• Rare-earth doped materials
• Ceramic and inorganic material science
• Nanomaterials
• Nanoparticles
• Nanotechnology
• Phosphors
• Characterization
• Spectroscopy
• Powder X-ray Diffraction

• Ph.D., Ceramic and Materials Engineering - Rutgers University
• B.S., Ceramic Science and Engineering - Rutgers University