NSAC Coffee Hour: Interview Series

This week we had the pleasure of interviewing Prof. David Go, a Purdue alumni who is currently the Rooney Family Collegiate Professor of Engineering and Department Chair of Aerospace and Mechanical engineering at Notre Dame University. He is a leader in the fields of plasma science and engineering, heat transfer, and fluid dynamics. He has won numerous awards for his work such as the Air force Younger investigator Research Award, NSF Career award, and others. We trace his route from Purdue to Notre Dame, and the life lessons he learned along the way.

This week we had the priviledge of interviewing Dr. Mikhail Shalaginov. Misha is currently a Post-Doctoral researcher at MIT. His research has covered a variety of areas in nanophotonics from quantum optics to his current work in Mid-Infrared meta-lenses. For his work he has won several awards such as the 2017 College of Engineering outstand graduate student research award, and the 2019 MRS Fall Meeting Best Presentation Award. In this interview we explored his path through academia thus far and his thoughts on what it takes to be a successful researcher.

Prof. Sajid Choudhury is a professor at the premier engineering school in Bangladesh, the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. He is also a senior member of IEEE, a former President of NSAC and the Purdue Bangladesh Student Organization, and the current Chairperson of the IEEE Young Professionals of Bangladesh. In this interview we covered Sajid’s path from undergrad at BUET to Purdue, and back to BUET as a Professor. Along the way we learned a few practical lessons about the important of setting realistic expectations for PhD and the importance of soft skills. 

Prof. Ali Shakouri is the Mary Jo and Robert L. Kirk Director of the Birck Nanotechnology Center and a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University. Prof. Shakouri's research is focused on Quantum electronics, mutual interaction of heat, light, and electricity in nano materials and devices. In this interview we covered Prof. Shakouri's journey from Iran, to Paris, and finally to the USA and how he decided to become a professor.

In this weeks interview we had the privilege of interviewing Justin Wirth. Justin is currently a research engineer at Purdue’s Birck Nanotechnology Center. In this interview we explored how he went from being a Purdue undergrad to a PhD student and how he decided that the path of research engineer was for him. This discussion particularly illuminated that there are other paths in academia beyond professorship.

This week we had a wonderful time interviewing Peide "Peter" Ye. Prof. Ye is the Richard J. and Mary Jo Schwartz Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue. His research interests lie in semiconductor physics and devices. In this interview we trace his journey from China to the USA, to distinguished Professor. 

This week we had the wonderful experience of interviewing Bill Rowe, a research engineer working in the Birck Nanotechnology Center. His life has spanned a number of types of jobs, from being in the Army National Guard, working at Delco Electronics,  helping to found Tau Laboratories, and then joining the academic world as a research engineer. 

A conversation with Prof. Steven Wereley, a mechanical engineering professor at Purdue University, about his experiences working with micro and nanofluidics along with his role in the assessing the Deep Water Horizon Spill.  

A conversation with Dr. Mauritz DeRidder, a senior manager at Aerojet Rocketdyne, and the founding president of NSAC, about his incredible journey from Purdue, to SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and Orbital, to landing at Rocketdyne. 

A conversation with Prof. Alexandra Boltasseva, the Ron And Dotty Garvin Tonjes Professor Of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University about her life experiences, great mentors, and her journey from Russia to Denmark, and finally to Purdue University.