Two SEAS faculty selected for Frontiers of Engineering Symposium

WASHINGTON — Debra Auguste and Shriram Ramanathan, both in the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), are among eighty-seven of the nation's brightest young engineers selected to take part in the National Academy of Engineering's (NAE) 16th annual U.S. Frontiers of Engineering symposium.

Engineers ages 30 to 45 who are performing exceptional engineering research and technical work in a variety of disciplines will come together for the 2 1/2 day event. The participants — from industry, academia, and government — were nominated by fellow engineers or organizations and chosen from approximately 265 applicants.

Auguste, Assistant Professor of Bioengineering, received her S.B. in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1999 and her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University in 2005. Before joining Harvard, she was a postdoctoral Associate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology for 2004-2006. The focus of the Auguste lab is to develop novel biomaterials for drug delivery and tissue engineering. We are interested in directing the behavior and differentiation of cells, in most cases human embryonic stem cells, by controlling their three-dimensional cellular microenvironment.

Ramanathan, Assistant Professor of Materials Science, received a B.Tech. in Metallurgical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (Madras); an M.S. in Materials Engineering from the University of Houston; and a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University. Prior to coming to Harvard, he was a researcher at the Intel Corporation from 2002 to 2005. Research in Ramanathan's group is primarily focused on oxide thin films and nanostructures with emphasis on how processing affects properties. In addition, Ramanathan is one of the founders of SiEnergy Systems, a privately-held startup company with the aim of commercializing low-cost, low-temperature versatile SOFCs.

"As we face the challenges the next century brings, we will rely more than ever on innovative engineers," said NAE President Charles M. Vest. "The U.S. Frontiers of Engineering program is an opportunity for a diverse group of this country's most promising young engineers to gather together and discuss multidisciplinary ways of leading us into the economy of tomorrow."

The symposium will be held Sept. 23-25 at the IBM Learning Center in Armonk, N.Y., and will examine cloud computing, autonomous aerospace systems, engineering and music, and engineering inspired by biology. A featured speaker will be Dr. Bernard S. Meyerson, IBM Fellow and vice president of innovation.

# # #

The National Academy of Engineering is an independent, nonprofit institution that serves as an adviser to government and the public on issues in engineering and technology. Its members consist of the nation's premier engineers, who are elected by their peers for their distinguished achievements. Established in 1964, NAE operates under the congressional charter granted to the National Academy of Sciences in 1863. A meeting program and more information about Frontiers of Engineering are available at http://www.nae.edu/frontiers.