Shashank Priya is associate vice president for research and director of strategic initiatives in the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR). His research is focused in the areas related to multifunctional materials, energy and bio-inspired systems. He has published over 400 peer-reviewed journal papers/book chapters and more than 60 conference proceedings covering these topics. Additionally, he has published more than ten book chapters, ten US patents, and ten edited books. He is the founder and chair of the Annual Energy Harvesting Meeting (http//ceramics.org/event/3rd-annual-energy-harvesting-society-meeting). Dr. Shashank Priya's research is funded by DARPA, AFOSR, ARO, NSF, DOE, ONR and several industries. He is also serving as the member of the Honorary Chair Committee for the International Workshop on Piezoelectric Materials and Applications (IWPMA).
This faculty member is associated with the Penn State Intercollege Graduate Degree Program (IGDP) in Materials Science and Engineering (MatSE) where a multitude of perspectives and cross-disciplinary collaboration within research is highly valued. Graduate students in the IGDP in MatSE may work with faculty members from across Penn State.
Our research is focused on developing bio-inspired materials, understanding the complex nature of properties in these materials, and once this understanding has been achieved, utilizing them to invent unique applications. Thus, our group is very interdisciplinary, consisting of materials scientists, physicists, mechanical engineers, robotics, and electrical engineers. This allows us to conduct integrated research addressing several aspects at the material, component, and system level.
- AFOSR Young Investigator Award
- Dean’s Research Excellence Award 2011
- Turner Fellowship 2012
- Fellow American Ceramic Society 2013
- Alumni award for excellence in Research 2014