Indian-American Sudarsanam Babu appointed to US science board

US President Donald Trump on Monday appointed Indian-American Sudarsanam Babu to country's top science board.

Babu, who is from the prestigious Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), has been appointed as a member of the National Science Board for a six-year term, the White House said on Monday, as it announced several key administrative appointments.

Babu earned his master of technology (industrial metallurgy - welding) from IIT-Madras in 1988 and a bachelor of engineering (eetallurgy) from PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore in 1986.

He holds a PhD in materials science and metallurgy from the Cambridge University, and is currently director of the Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education, as well as ORNL Governor's Chair of Advanced Manufacturing.

In this role, he bridges ORNL expertise, including Department of Energy's manufacturing demonstration facility, to develop a collaborative research ecosystem locally and employ engineering solutions to manufacturing industries.

He has 21 years of experience in advanced manufacturing, additive manufacturing, physical metallurgy and computational materials modelling.

Babu would be the third Indian American in this prestigious board. The other two being Sethuraman Panchanathan from the Arizona State University and Suresh V Garimella from University of Vermont.