Thursday Lunch Presentation
June 5, 2003, 12:00 p.m.

NSF Perspective on Challenges
and Opportunities in Engineering Research and Education

Dr. Vasundara Varadan

Division Director NSF Electrical and Communications Systems

Degrees with Fields, Institution and Date

• B.S., Physics, University of Kerala (India), 1967
• M.Sc., Physics, University of Kerala (India), 1969
• Ph.D., Physics, University of Illinois, 1974

20 Years Service on Penn State University Faculty

• Aug 1983 - Present Co-Director, Center for the Engineering of Electronic and Acoustic Materials
• Aug 1983 - Jun 1986 Associate Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics and Electrical Engineering
• Jul 1986 - Jul 1988 Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics and Electrical Engineering
• Aug 1988 - Dec 1989 Distinguished Alumni Professor in Engineering Science and Mechanics and Electrical Engineering
• Jan 2000 - Present Distinguished Professor

Other Related Experience - Teaching, Industrial, etc.

• Jan 1974 - Jan 1977 Research Associate, Research in wave propagation and scattering, Cornell University
• Jan 1977 - Jan 1981 Assistant Professor, Teaching, research in wave propagation, Ohio State University
• Jan 1977 - Jan 1977 Assistant Professor, Teaching, research in wave propagation, acoustics, electromagnetics, Ohio State University
• Jan 1981 - Jan 1983 Associate Professor, Teaching, research in wave propagation, composite materials, Ohio State University

Principal Publications of Last Five Years (partial list)

• K. Du, V.V. Varadan and V.K. Varadan, “ Estimation of Reflection Coefficients for Co-axial Waveguide Radiating into a Chiral Half-Space”, J. Electromagnetic Waves & Applications; Vol. 15, pp. 649-663, 2001.
• K.J. Vinoy, K.A. Jose, V.K. Varadan, and V.V. Varadan, “Hilbert Curve Fractal Antenna: A small resonant Antenna for UHF/VHF Applications”, IEEE Microwaves and Optics Letters, Vol. 29, pp. 215-219, 2001.
• K.A. Jose, V.K. Varadan, and V.V. Varadan, “Wideband and Noncontact Charaterization of the Complex Permittivity of Liquids”, IEEE Microwaves and Optics Letters, Vol. 30, pp. 75-79, 2001.
• V.K. Varadan, V.V. Varadan and H. Subramanian, “Fabrication, Characterization and Testing of Wireless MEMS-IDT based Microaccelerometers”, Sensors and Actuators A, Vol. 90, pp. 7-19, 2001.
• J.M. Zhang, W. Chang, V.K. Varadan and V.V. Varadan, “ Passive Underwater Acoustic Damping using Shunted Piezoelectric Coatings”, J. Smart Structures and Materials, Vol. 10, pp. 414-420, 2001.
• P.K. Sharma, Z. Ounaies, V.V. Varadan and V.K. Varadan, “ Dielectric and Piezoelectric Properties of Microwave Sintered PZT”, J. Smart Structures and Materials, Vol. 10, pp. 878-883, 2001.
• W. Chang, S. Gopinathan, V.V. Varadan, V.K. Varadan, “Design of Robust Vibration Controller for a Smart Panel Using Finite Element Model”, ASME J. Sound and Vibration, in print, April 2002.
• Y.R. Roh, V.V. Varadan, V.K. Varadan and R.H. Tancrell, " Measurement of all the elastic, dielectric and piezoelectric properties of PVDF films", IEEE Trans. UFFC, in print 2002.
• K.J. Vinoy, K.A. Jose, V.K. Varadan and V.V. Varadan, “ Hilbert Curve Fractal Antennas with Reconfigurable Characteristics”, 2001 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest, IEEE Cat. No. 01CH37157, pp. 381-384, 2001.
• S. V. Gopinathan, V. V. Varadan and V. K. Varadan, “ Rayleigh-Ritz formulation for active control of acoustics in cabin enclosures”, SPIE Smart Structures and Materials; Modeling, Signal Processing and Control, Vol. 4326, pp. 58-67, 2001.
• K. J. Vinoy, K. A. Jose and V. K. Varadan and V. V. Varadan, “ Resonant frequency of Hilbert curve fractal antennas”, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society, AP-S International Symposium (Digest), Vol. 3, pp. 648-651, 2001.
• K. A. Jose, H. Yoon, K. J. Vinoy, P. Sharma, V. K. Varadan and V. V. Varadan, “ Low voltage capacitors for RF MEMS filters and antenna applications”, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society, AP-S International Symposium (Digest), Vol. 3, pp. 670-673, 2001.

Books Published, Edited or Parts of Books

• Editor of Conference Proceedings: SPIE Smart Structures and Materials 1997 - Mathematics and Control in Smart Structures, Vol. 3039.
• Varadan, V.K., Jiang, X., and Varadan, V.V. 2001. Microstereolithography and other Fabrication Techniques for 3D MEMS. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Consulting, Patents, Professional Registrations, etc.

• Patent: Varadan, V. K. and V. V. Varadan. Electromagnetic Shielding and Absorptive Materials. U. S.Patent 4,948,922, 1990.
• Patent: Varadan, V. K., V. V. Varadan, and T. Schaffer. Microwave Heatig System. U.S. Patent 5,296,666, 1994.
• Patent: Varadan, V. K. V. V. Varadan, and J. W. Cresko. Electromagnetic Shielding Materials, U.S. Patent 5,366,664, 1994.
• Patent application: Varadan, V. K. and V. V. Varadan. Voltage Tunable Dielectric Ceamics, U.S. serial No. 08/260,053 filed June, 1994.
• Co Founder (along with V. K. Varadan) of HVS Technologies, Inc., in 1988, which manufactures elastomeric EMI/RFI shielding materials and designs customized high power microwave systems and microwave measurement systems for customer needs. V. V. Varadan is Chair of the Board of Directors and serves as a technical consultant.
• Varadan, V. K. and V. V. Varadan. Multiple Frequency Transducer. Invention Disclosure No. 92-1182.
• Varadan, V. K. and V. V. Varadan. Smart Skins, Tunable Substrate and Structures. Invention Disclosure No. 92-1183.
• Varadan, V. K. and V. V. Varadan. Active Noise Control using Piezoelectric Sensors and Actuators, Patent Pending.

Scientific and Professional Societies of Which a Member

• Acoustical Society of America (Fellow)
• IEEE
• Society of Engineering Science
• SPIE
• U.S. Association for Computational Mechanics

Honors and Awards

• Government of India National Merit Scholarship, 1964-1969
• College of Engineering Outstanding Research Award, Penn State University, 1987
• Central PA Chapter of Women of Color-Lifetime Professional Achievement Award
• Distinguished Alumni Professor, Penn State University, 1988
• National University Continuing Education Association, Creative Programming Award, 1992
• Award for the Ms WIZ Program
• Soroptimists International of the Americas' 1993 Women Helping Women Award
• Citizen's Ambassador Program to the U.S./China Joing Workshop on Women's Issues, Beijing, China, 1995

Institutional and Professional Service in the Last Five Years

• Member, Technical Committee, Structural Acoustics and Vibration, Acoustical Society of America, 1999.
• Member, Executive Committee on Smart Structures and Materials, SPIE, 1999 - 2001.
• Editorial Board, Smart Structures and Materials.
• Editorial Board, Subsurface Sensing Technologies and Applications.
• Technical Committee, Structural Acoustics and Vibration, Acoustical Society of America.
• Faculty Review Committee for University Scholars Program Admission Committee, 1997 - 1998.
• Faculty Advisor, Aid India's Development, Graduate Student's Organization.
• Commission for Women; Chair, 2000 - 2001; Member 1998 - 2002.
• University Faculty Senate, 1999 - 2003.

Professional Development Activites in the Last Five Years

• Oversaw reorganization of ESc 400H to include a new lab manual, incorporation of tutorial classes and taking a proactive role to team up weaker students with stronger students for the required group projects.
• Commission for Women (1998-2002); chaired the organization from 2000-2001.
• IPA Appointment at the National Science Foundation as Division Director for Electrical and Communication Systems (2/11/2002 - 2/10/2004).