Prof. Kumar Sridharan is Grainger Professor in the Departments of Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics and Materials Science & Engineering and Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His expertise spans a broad spectrum of areas in the field of materials science and metallurgy, including nuclear reactor materials, corrosion, physical metallurgy, surface modification and coatings processes, ion implantation, plasma-based synthesis and deposition of materials, characterization and testing of materials, intersections of materials and manufacturing, and industrial applications. He has over 350 publications in these areas including five patents, eight invited book chapters, journal articles, reviewed conference proceedings, and industry/national laboratory reports. Prof. Sridharan has provided research mentorship to over 150 graduate and undergraduate students, post-doctoral research associates, staff scientists, and incoming faculty. He serves on the editorial committee of the journal, Advanced Materials & Processes which specializes in reports on cutting-edge, applications-driven materials research and associated manufacturing processes. He is the recipient of University of Wisconsin-Madison, College of Engineering’s Bollinger Award for vision and leadership in materials science research and technology, mentorship and service through education, and collaborative industrial partnerships in support of the Wisconsin Idea, and the University of Wisconsin, Madison’s Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research. He is also the recipient of University of Wisconsin, Madison’s Award for Mentoring Undergraduates in Research, Scholarly and Creative Activities. Prof. Sridharan is an elected Fellow of American Society for Materials, Fellow of Institute of Materials, Minerals, and Mining, United Kingdom, and Fellow of American Nuclear Society in recognition for his contributions to the fields of surface modification and coatings technologies, nuclear reactor materials, and education.
Examples of Professional Contributions to the Field
– Member of National Expert Panel for Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) – organized Materials Degradation Matrix for Molten Salt Reactors (2024).
– Member of Editorial Committee for American Society for Materials’ Flagship Magazine “Advanced Materials and Processes” (2013-present).
– Member of Organizing Committee (and chair for sessions) for Symposia on “Materials and Chemistry for Molten Salt Systems,” and “Additive Manufacturing for Energy Applications”, The Metallurgical Society (TMS) Annual Conferences (2021 through 2026).
– Member of Organizing Committee, North American Cold Spray Conference, Montreal, Canada (August 2024).
– Member of Organizing Committee, International Thermal Spray Conference (ITSC) held in Quebec City, Canada, Milan, Italy, Vancouver, Canada (2023-25).
– Invited Panel Member for EPRI-DOE Organized Integration Technical Meeting: Advanced Reactor Structural Materials, Charlotte, NC (2023).
– Member Nuclear Materials Committee, The Metallurgical Society (TMS) (2009 – present).
– Invited Keynote Speaker – “Cold Spray Technology for Nuclear Energy Systems”, American Society for Materials’ International Materials, Applications, and Technologies (IMAT) Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA (2022).
– Invited Member of International Proposal Review Panel for Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Canada, on the topic of materials performance for Used Nuclear Fuel Waster Disposition (2020).
– Invited Participant and Panel Member for the Advanced Non-Light Water Reactors – Materials and Component Integrity Workshop, Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Rockville, MD (2019).
– Invited Member of Panel to perform PIRT (Phenomena Identification and Ranking Table) analysis for materials and components for molten salt-cooled reactor company, Kairos Power, Alameda, CA (2019).
– Member of Department of Energy Expert Panel on materials research updates and needs for Molten Salt-Cooled Reactors, Falls Church, VA, 2018.
Invited Lecturer – taught course entitled “Introduction to Cold Spraying: Science, Technology, and Applications” to an audience representing industry, national laboratories, and government, at the International Thermal Spray Conference, Orlando, FL (2018).
Invited Science Reviewer for Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Neutron Sciences Directorate (2018).
– Invited Panel Member for Department of Energy’s Basic Energy Sciences on Basic Research Needs (BRN) Workshop on Future of Nuclear Energy, Rockville, MD, 2017.
– Organizer for Department of Energy-sponsored Advanced Fuel Campaign (AFC) Conference at University of Wisconsin, Madison that brought together national leaders in the field from Department of Energy, national laboratories and industry (2016).
– Member of Organizing Committee, Materials and Structural Issues, International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP), San Francisco, CA (2016).
– Selected by U.S. Department of Energy to represent the U.S. at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting on “High Temperature Code Qualification of Materials for High Temperature Reactors”, Vienna, Austria (2014).
– Member, Board of Directors of Thermal Spray Society, American Society for Materials (2014 – 2017).
– Invited Participant to the National Academies Keck Foundation Initiative (NAKFI) on Future of Advanced Reactor Technologies, Irvine, CA (2013).
– Keynote Plenary Speaker, “Cold Spray Materials Deposition Technology”, International Thermal Spray Conference (ITSC), Houston, TX (2012).
– Member of editorial Committee of journal, International Materials Reviews (2000-2012).
– Member of Editorial Committee of Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance (2003-2012).
– Member of Organizing Committee and Session Chair for Nuclear Materials Symposia at the TMS’s Materials Science and Technology (MS&T) Annual Conferences (2009-2017).
– Chair and Organizer of symposium “Materials Corrosion in Supercritical Systems”, National Association of Corrosion Engineers Annual Conference (NACE), Atlanta, GA (2009).
– Member of Committee for the selection winners of Henry Howe Medal and Marcus Grossmann Young Author Award, American Society for Materials (2006-2009).
– Chair for session “Materials for Supercritical Water Reactors”, American Nuclear Society Annual Conference, San Diego, CA (2005).
– Organizer and Co-Chair for session “High Energy Photonic Processing for Surface Modification”, International Surface Engineering Congress, American Society for Materials, Orlando, FL (2004).
– Invited Speaker and Panel member, North American Technology and Industrial Base Organization (NATIBO) – Ion Beam Processing Technologies Workshop sponsored by the Department of Defense, Corpus Christi, TX (1996 and 1998).
– Chair, “Biomedical Coatings” session, 10th Surface Modification Technology Conference, Singapore (1996).
– Co-organizer, “Plasma and Vapor Deposition” sessions, American Society for Materials Annual Conference, Cleveland, OH (1995).
– Co-editor of Proceedings for the First International Workshop on Plasma-Based Ion Implantation, Madison, WI (August 1993), published as topical issue in Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology (April 1994).