Career Opportunities In Academia, Industry and Government Laboratories: A Panel Discussion

Monday, October 29th

14:00 - 16:00

Panel Discussion: To present view-points from FOUR top-level leaders in academia, industry and government labs about current and future career opportunities in different fields of sensors.

Lina Sarro

Professor and Chair, Department of Electronic Components, Technology and Materials, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands

Lina Sarro

Professor and Chair, Department of Electronic Components, Technology and Materials, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands

Biography

Lina (P.M.) Sarro received the Laurea degree (cum laude) in solid-states physics from the University of Naples, Italy, in 1980. From 1981 to 1983, she was a post-doctoral fellow in the Photovoltaic Research Group of the Division of Engineering at Brown University, Rhode Island, U.S.A. In 1987 she received a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands, and then joined the EE Faculty to establish and lead research on silicon micromachining, integrated sensor, MEMS and material processing. In 2001 she was appointed Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Full Professor for research merits. From 2009 to 2016 she was head of the Microelectronics Department (±70 research, teaching and support staff, more than 100 PhD students and 90-100 MSc students) and currently she is the head of the Electronic Components, Technology and Materials Laboratory.

Her main research interests are in novel materials and structures for MEMS and NEMS to be applied in health, automotive, environmental applications and scientific instrumentation. She has supervised 40 completed PhD theses (and 8 ongoing). She has (co)-authored more than 500 publications (H-index of 50) and 8 patents.

She is member of the International Steering Committee of Eurosensors, Transducers and IEEE MEMS and acted as General Chair and Technical Program Committee Chair several times for all major international conferences in the field of sensors, MEMS and microsystems. She is associate editor for the IEEE Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems and has been associate editor (2006-2009) for IEEE Sensors Journal. She serves on various international advisory boards and panels for research. She is/was also independent board member of Xensor Integration bv (since April 2007) and of MELEXIS Microelectronic Integrated Systems (2005-2014)

She is the recipient of the 2004 Eurosensors Fellow Award, The AISEM Career Award (2007), The IEEE 2012 Sensors Council Meritorious Award and the 2018 IEEE Robert Bosch Micro and Nano Systems Award and co-recipient of the Rudolph Kingslake Medal (1997). In 2017 she was one of the PIs for the NWO Gravity grant Netherlands Organ-on-Chip Initiative (NOCI). She is an IEEE Fellow, an (elected) member of the KNAW (Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences) and member of its governing board (2008-2011), Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion and Knight in the Order of the Italian Star.

Khalil Najafi

Biomedical Engineering Professor, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science Chair, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, USA

Radislav Potyrailo

Principal Scientist GE Global Research

Vikram Kumar

Dr Raja Ramanna DRDO Distinguished Fellow, Solid State Physics Laboratory Delhi, India; Honorary Professor, CARE, IITD, India

Panel Discussion Co-Chairs

Zeynep Celik-Butler

Professor University of Texas, Arlington

Usha Varshney

Program Director for Electronics, Photonics and Magnetic Devices in the Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (ECCS) National Science Foundation

Usha Varshney

Program Director for Electronics, Photonics and Magnetic Devices in the Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (ECCS) National Science Foundation

Biography

Dr. Usha Varshney is a Program Director for Electronics, Photonics and Magnetic Devices in the Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (ECCS) at the National Science Foundation (NSF), managing the interdisciplinary science and engineering research thrust areas on micro and nanomagnetic devices and circuits, spin electronics and quantum devices, bioelectronics and molecular electronics, and sensor technologies. From 2003 to 2008, she served as the Division Director of the Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (ECCS) Division following her appointment as an Acting Division Director. She joined NSF in December 1997 as a Program Director. From October 2003 to June 2004, Dr. Varshney was a Legislative Fellow in the United States 108th Congress, and a ComSci Fellow in the Science and Technology Fellowship Program of the U.S. Department of Commerce. She had a leadership role in the passage of Senate Bill S.189 on Nanotechnology signed into law (PL 108-153) by President Bush on December 3, 2003, and in the organization of the bipartisan and bicameral "Congressional Nanotechnology Caucus" established by Senator Allen on April 1, 2004. From 1995 – 1997, Dr. Varshney was Director of Research at American Research Corporation of Virginia, following her appointment as Senior Research Scientist and Research Scientist from 1987-1995. She has also held professional appointments at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Merrimac Magnetics, and Chronar Corporation. She received her Ph.D. in Physics from Indian Institute of Technology - New Delhi.

Dr. Varshney is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). She has also served as a member of the Joint Commission on Technology and Science (JCOTS) Advisory Committee on Nanotechnology for the Commonwealth of Virginia. She is coeditor of three books and an inventor on seven patents, and has served on several editorial boards. Dr. Varshney has been the recipient of a number of honors and awards, while in industry and at NSF.

Career Opportunities In Academia, Industry and Government Laboratories: A Panel Discussion

Monday, October 29th

Lina Sarro

Khalil Najafi

Radislav Potyrailo

Vikram Kumar

Panel Discussion Co-Chairs

Zeynep Celik-Butler

Usha Varshney

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