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The Lecture is also available on iTunes U
March 23, 2012 2:00–3:00 p.m.
Hameetman Auditorium, Cahill Free and Open to the Public
Scientific Research and Education:
Challenges and Opportunities
 Subra Suresh
Director of National Science Foundation (NSF)
Subra Suresh ,
distinguished engineer
and professor, was nominated by President
Obama and unanimously confirmed
by the U.S. Senate as the Director of the
National Science Foundation (NSF) in
September 2010. As director of this
$7-billion independent federal agency
since October 2010, he leads the only
government science agency charged
with advancing all fields of fundamental science and
engineering research and related education. Since
joining NSF, he has established several new initiatives
including INSPIRE (Integrative NSF Support Promoting
Interdisciplinary Research and Education), PEER
(Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research,
in collaboration with USAID), the NSF Career-Life
Balance Initiative, and the NSF Innovation Corps. Prior
to his current role, he served as Dean of the School of
Engineering and the Vannevar Bush Professor of
Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT). His experimental and modeling work on the
mechanical properties of structural and functional
materials, innovations in materials design and characterization,
and discoveries of possible connections
between cellular nanomechanical processes and
human disease states have shaped new fields in the
fertile intersections of traditional disciplines. In his
leadership roles at MIT, Suresh helped create new
state-of-the-art laboratories, the MIT Transportation
Initiative, and the Center for Computational Engineering;
led MIT’s efforts in establishing the Singapore-
MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART)
Center; and oversaw the recruitment of a record
number of women faculty in engineering. Learn more
 
 
Click on thumbnails to view photos
The Wouk Lecture is presented by the Division of Engineering & Applied Science. |
 NSF Director and 2012 Distinguished Wouk Lecturer, Subra Suresh with members of the Wouk family and EAS Division Chair Ares Rosakis
Past Lectures
The Victor Wouk Lectureship, established by the Wouk family in December 2004 to bring to campus experts on the latest advances in science and technology, is named in honor of Caltech alumnus Victor Wouk, who received his master's and doctorate degrees in electrical engineering from Caltech in 1940 and 1942, respectively. He devoted himself largely to developing hybrid motor vehicles and using semiconductors in electric vehicles. More than three decades ago, he designed and built a high-performance electric vehicle and a high-performance, low-emission, improved-fuel-use hybrid. Throughout his career, he promoted the continuing development of hybrid automobiles powered by both electricity and gasoline, such as the Toyota Prius, Honda Insight, and Ford Escape Hybrid. The range of Wouk's activities was wide, and he consulted for several institutions and the government on the problems of energy. A space-travel buff since childhood, he also worked with the team that developed fuel gauges for the "dune buggies" that roamed the surface of the moon during the Apollo program. |
