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Prof. Akhlesh Lakhtakia joined the College of Engineering at Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA, in 1983. Prof. Lakhtakia graduated in 1979 in Electronics Engineering (with BHU Gold Medal) from Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University. He obtained MS and PhD in Electrical Engineering from University of Utah, USA. He also obtained D. Sc. in Electronics Engineering in 2006 from IT-BHU.
Along with teaching, Prof. Lakhtakia is involved in research on electro-magnetic waves, optics, nanophotonics and nanomaterials. He has received several awards and honors, including two Nano50 Awards. He is one of just 12 engineering faculty members to have received the Faculty Scholar Medal at Penn State over the last 28 years. The University of Utah made him a University Distinguished Alumnus in 2007.
Yogesh K. Upadhyaya from Chronicle took the opportunity to interview him for his teaching and research work:
(Prof. Akhlesh Lakhtakia)
To view his bio-data, visit his home page (http://www.esm.psu.edu/~axl4/)
Q-1: Welcome, Sir. Please introduce yourself to our readers.
I was born in Lucknow, and was schooled there (St. Cathedral School, St. Francis’ High School) and New Delhi (Cambridge School). My parents were salaried middle-class folks, very focused on education for their children. My father worked for the UP State Government, My mother was a homemaker. In later years, I came to greatly appreciate their financial sacrifices for our education.
I passed the Indian School Certificate Examination, then an 11th-grade school-leaving examination, and chose in 1974 to study at IT BHU. In those days, the B. Tech curriculum spanned 5 years. I opted for Electronics Engineering, as it was then an emerging area in India. I chose IT-BHU over IITs, because I felt that education at a university was somehow going to be more enriching than at an academically monocultural institution. That feeling was vindicated some years later by my experiences at US universities, and even IITs are no longer narrowly focused on engineering.
I received MS and PhD degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, in 1981 and 1983, respectively. I liked that city immensely and fell in love with mountains. Even today, whenever I behold a mountain (not a hill), I feel that 10 minutes have been added to my lifespan. I also fell in love with an Argentinean student of meteorology, who consented to become the spice of my life.
We moved to Penn State in 1983. I was a post-doctoral scholar there for a year. I joined the faculty a year later. Mercedes went on to finish her PhD at Penn State, carried out research for about ten years thereafter, but in 2001 elected to become a Spanish teacher. She now teaches that language at Penn State.
We have a daughter, Natalya, who is currently studying for a professional MS degree in speech language pathology at the University of Utah.
Q-2: Please tell us about your teaching experience at Penn State University?
Pennsylvania State University is the land-grant University of the State of Pennsylvania. Chartered in 1855 to teach industrial and agricultural arts to the youth of Pennsylvania, it is now a comprehensive university with 25 campuses, 16 colleges, and numerous departments. The total number of students is in excess of 80,000, with 43,000 at the University Park campus, where I teach. The Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) index ranks it as the 43rd best university in the world. The same index ranks our College of Engineering as the 9th best worldwide.
The Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics is a cross-disciplinary department. We have run the first honors BS program in engineering in the state of Pennsylvania for over 50 years. We also award MS, M. Eng., and PhD degrees in Engineering Science, Engineering Mechanics, and Engineering Science and Mechanics. Out undergraduate program is ranked 5th in the US among programs of its kind. The research we do spans many traditional disciplines, so much so that I like to call us a department of engineering and scientific misfits. I love being in an interdisciplinary atmosphere.
I joined the faculty in 1984, and was promoted to Associate Professor (1991), Professor (1997), and Distinguished Professor (2003). From November 2005, I hold an endowed professorship. For the last three years, I also serve as the founding Editor-in-Chief of SPIE’s online Journal of Nanophotonics.
Teaching talented undergraduate students in an honors program is a great joy. These students are eager to learn and many of them are eager to change the world. Teaching undergraduate students from outside our program is a great opportunity. Helping them to realize their full potential is a welcome challenge that tests the mettle of an educator. Graduate students require a different kind of mentorship. They must be turned into self-propelled enquiring minds that create new knowledge.
Q-3: You are actively involved in research work on materials. What kind of work do you do?
A huge part of my research over the last 30 years has been focused on electromagnetic fields in complex materials. These days, my research encompasses nanophotonics and nanomaterials. I also work on scattering of acoustic, electromagnetic, and elastodynamic fields; fractals and chaos; biomedical applications of nanomaterials; and, most recently, on bioreplication.
If I could lay claim to two significant contributions, these would be (i) the formulation and elucidation of electromagnetic field behavior in isotropic chiral materials, and (ii) the conceptualization of sculptured thin films as a platform nanotechnology. Isotropic chiral materials are exemplified by amino acids, proteins, sugars, indeed, thousands of organic materials. Our bodies are made of many such materials. Isotropic chiral materials can also be artificially manufactured, with perhaps the first person to make them being Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose. Sculptured thin films are assemblies of parallel, shaped nanowires that too can be traced back to Sir J.C. Bose. These materials can guide light and alter its properties in ways determined by the nanowire shapes. I am also establishing their potential as substrates (i) for cell culturing to enable faster pathological tests and (ii) for ex vivo tissue growth to assist renewal of damaged organs. Most recently, my research also focuses on bioreplication, the idea being to make exact copies of structures such as the eyes of flies and the wings of butterflies for solar-energy-harvesting devices, light-recycling devices, and colored fabrics produced without using paints.
Q-4: Your advice to electronics graduates looking to involve in electronics engineering teaching/research work?
The world or research and development is spinning faster than every before. Do not pigeon-hole yourself as some who can do only this or that. You are going to be an engineer. Engineers can do anything. They enabled the emergence of art, poetry, music, and commerce, by inventing paints, writing implements, musical instruments, coins, and so on. Without engineers amongst us, we might as well have remained like bonobos (nearly extinct species of dwarf chimpanzees in Congo).
You must become mentally agile. Be a sponge for ideas, and then share them liberally with others. Not only must you think, but you should also act. Proper action stems from careful research.
I teach courses that had never been taught to me. Twenty years earlier, I could not have envisioned the kind of research my students and I carry out these days. A couple of years ago, after I had delivered a seminar at the University of Utah, one of my former professors, Prof. Om Gandhi enquired: “But we never taught you such things, did we?” I replied: “No, but you taught me to learn and think.”
When I was in the 5th grade, my father taught me a poem. It has guided me since then. In 2006, I told this to one of my students who was about to receive a PhD. A couple of years later, when we met at a conference, Dr. Joseph Geddes presented me with a framed copy of that poem. It hangs in my office, connecting my father to one of my brain-children. It is entitled: A Psalm of Life. It was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Other pieces of free advice: do not spit on the ground; do not litter; do not consume paan, cigarettes, and liquor; do not routinely make false allegations against the sisters and mothers of others; praise others for their accomplishments; encourage those who have fallen to get up; volunteer; do not accept injustice and unfairness against strangers; love all children. These actions will make for a harmonious world, where you will realize your own potential fully among a crowd of equally accomplished peers. A rising tide lifts all boats.
Q-5: Please describe your college days.
My college days at IT-BHU were a lot of fun and very stimulating too. I lived in Vivekananda, Limbdi. Morvi, and Raman hostels. I ate in a hostel mess, with my fellow students. For one year, I enjoyed membership in a South Indian mess, and my wife has been infected with love for dosas and uttapams too. I would often miss Sunday dinners in favor of a lavanglata at Pahlwan’s, but sometimes would go to Sindhi’s hotel for mughlai chicken and parathas.
One year, I saw a lot of Indian movies. Most of them were copies of each other, and so my movie trips to Lanka became less frequent after that. In those days, Lanka had several bookstores. I could not afford to buy many books, but the owners of those stores were very kind and let me read the books on the premises. The Gaekwad Library was also a great gem, where I read literary and historical magazines from all over the world.
Friendships begun in those days have stood the test of time. My best friends were Vijay Khare (Mechanical) and Pradip Jain (Electronics). I lost touch with them for several years, but satellite communications and the internet brought us together again, our friendship undiminished by the passage of time. It is usually a great pleasure to meet my batchmates again, though I confess that a few have given me equally great pleasure by keeping these meetings short. I was saddened last year to learn that Manoj Gupta (Civil) was brutally murdered by a politician.
Among the professors who shaped my life, I must rank Prof. Prasad Khastgir the highest. He was a true mentor, unconfined by disciplinary boundaries and other protocols, but one who loved to guide young minds to think. Prof. V. V. Menon was a great favorite too. He introduced me to an esoteric topic (the theory of non-differentiable curves), which guided me many years later quite smoothly to the world of fractals. I was always impressed by the devotion of Profs. R.P. Singhal, Nagesh C. Vaidya, and Onkar N. Singh to research, and of Profs. V. V. Chalam and A. K. Ghose to teaching. Other memorable instructors included Keshav P. Singh, S. Balasubramaniam, and Dina Nath Verma.
I never liked to draw, mostly because I perspired a lot, and am so happy that programs like MacPaint and Adobe Illustrator have obscured one of my major shortcomings. One year, I learnt vocal music at the School of Music, and transformed into a successful bathroom singer who irritated Vikas Suri (Electronics) mercilessly. Pramod Joshi (Electronics) and I were once nearly expelled, allegedly for ragging, but we were merely late onlookers; fortunately, the wise counsel of Prof. Vaidya prevailed.
At the University of Utah, my research advisor, Prof. Magdy Iskander was superb. He was very enthusiastic about research. He worked day and night, it seemed. He taught me not to pay attention to irrelevant issues.
At Penn State, Profs. Craig Bohren and Russell Messier became my mentors, friends and intellectual-stimulation partners. By their talent, energy, enthusiasm, and innovation, a host of students, undergraduate as well as graduate, and research collaborators worldwide have enriched me beyond what I probably deserve. I am paid to do what I love to do. Who could ask for anything more?
Q-6: Please tell us about your personal life
I have already told you about my wife and daughter, both of whom are indispensable. My mother was hugely influential too, perhaps not always in ways she may have wanted to be. I am very close to my brother and sister and their families. All four of my nieces are delightful.
My philosophy of life is straightforward: I try my best to do what my conscience tells what is right.
Sir, it was nice talking to you.
My thanks to Chronicle team for bringing out the Chronicle regularly.
Prof. Akhlesh Lakhtakia can be reached at: akhlesh@psu.edu
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About Prof. Akhlesh Lakhtakia
Dr. Akhlesh Lakhtakia
The Charles Godfrey Binder (Endowed) Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics
Mailing Address
212 Earth-Engineering Sciences Building
Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics
Penn State University
University Park, PA 16802-6812, USA
Home page: http://www.esm.psu.edu/~axl4/
CV: February 4, 2009
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Education of Prof. Akhlesh Lakhtakia
* B. Tech. (Electronics Engineering), Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University 1979
* M.S. (Electrical Engineering), Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Utah 1981
* Ph.D. (Electrical Engineering), Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Utah 1983 (2007 University Distinguished Alumnus)
*D.Sc. (Electronics Engineering), Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University 2006
Research Theses:
M. S. Thesis: Radio–frequency absorption of near–field energy by prolate spheroidal models of humans and animals.
Ph. D. Thesis: Near–field scattering and absorption by lossy dielectrics at resonance
frequencies.
D. Sc. Thesis: Electromagnetic fields in complex mediums.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Scattering and propagation of electromagnetic, acoustic and electromagnetic waves;
numerical techniques; optics; fractal structures; composite materials; chiral materials;
anisotropic and bianisotropic materials; sculptured thin films; negative refractive index;
carbon–nanotube electromagnetics; complex-medium electromagnetics; nanophotonics
TEACHING INTERESTS
Wave propagation and scattering; applied mathematics; numerical methods; dynamics;
electromagnetics; green engineering
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Additional links:
* Penn-State University
http://live.psu.edu/image/24093
Penn State University, University Park Campus, Pennsylvania, USA
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Penn State University-Department of Engineering Sciences and mechanics
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* Nano 50 (technology) Awards in 2005 & 2006
http://www.nanotechbriefs.com/nano50/nano50_winners_05.html
http://www.nanotechbriefs.com/nano50_winners.html
* Educating Society on Nanotechnology
http://www.nanotech-now.com/columns/?article=337
Patti D. Hill
CEO / Founder
Abstract:
A question that continues to plague industry, government, civic groups and scientists is when or whether the general public will buy-in to nanotechnology. What will it take and whose responsibility is it to convince society that nanotechnology is worthy of deeper consideration. The answer is anything but crystal clear.
August 11th, 2009
In 2003, a public opinion poll published jointly by the Royal Society, the UK national academy of science, and Royal Academy of Engineering, the UK national academy of engineering, reported that an overwhelming majority of people had not heard of nanotechnology.
In 2007, scientists and nanotechnologists were stunned by a report issued by Akhlesh Lakhtakia, the Charles Godfrey Binder professor of engineering science and mechanics at Penn State; Priya Kurian, senior lecturer in political science and public policy, University of Waikato, New Zealand; and Robert V. Bartlett, the Gund professor of liberal arts at the University of Vermont. They found that the general public was only vaguely aware of nanotechnology.
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http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=lakhtakia&x=0&y=0
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(if you having troubles, try posting your comment on this page or send an email to chronicle @ itbhuglobal.org)Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University
Varanasi 221005, UP