NASF's AESF Foundation Awards Scholarship

The NASF's education arm, the AESF Foundation, has awarded its annual graduate scholarship to Carnegie Mellon doctorate student Sudarshan Narayanan, who is a materials science and engineering student with an interest in surface technology.

Narayanan, who is currently focusing on transparent conductors for optoelectronic applications and is expecting to complete his doctorate in 2013, joined the department during the fall of 2009, after completing his bachelor degree in engineering physics from the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, in 2009.

He then joined the research groups of Professor Lisa Porter and Professor Michael Bockstaller, where he intends to understand and investigate the carrier mobilities in polymer-based electronic devices, co-advised by the two faculty members. His academic interests broadly include semiconductors, processing and devices, multiferroics, compound semiconductors, optoelectronics and nanomaterials.

Besides academics, Narayanan is a 'sports-buff' of sorts and enjoys playing basketball. He represented his high school and college in various competitions. He follows the NBA very closely, and the Lakers are his favorite team. He is also a huge soccer fan with Manchester United and Argentina being his favorite club and country team, respectively.

Apart from sports, he is an avid quizzing enthusiast, and very passionate about music. He plays the violin (Indian classical carnatic), which he has been learning for the past 8-9 year. He also likes travelling a lot and enjoys all sorts of outdoor activities like trekking, hiking and cycling. His first trekking experience was on the Himalayas where he managed to scale the Sar Pass peak, an expedition organized by the Youth Hostel Association of India.

The AESF Scholarship Committee that reviewed the application and made the recommendation were Dr. Yinlun Huang, Wayne State University; Dr. Ling Hao, Lacks Enterprises; and Dr. Helen Lou, Lamar University.

"AESF Foundation remains committed to helping undergraduate and graduate students interested in studying chemical engineering, material science or engineering, mechanical engineering, metallurgical engineering, environmental engineering or chemistry," said Bob Srinivasan of A Brite Company, president of the AESF Foundation.

Scholarships to college juniors, seniors and graduate students are offered in the amount of $1,500. Candidates must demonstrate academic achievement and involvement in extracurricular activities.