Dr Seeram Ramakrishna is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and supervisor of Healthcare & Energy Materials Lab. http://www.bioeng.nus.edu.sg/seeram_ramakrishna/

He is the Vice-President (Research Strategy) of NUS
http://www.nus.edu.sg/aboutus/management/seeram.php and founding Co-Director of NUS Nanoscience & Nanotechnology Initiative, NUSNNI. http://www.nusnni.nus.edu.sg/

He chairs the governing board of Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS), Clean Energy Program Office, National Research Foundation. He serves on the boards of Institution of Engineers Singapore (IES); Energy Studies Institute (ESI), Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Trade & Industry; Temasek Polytechnic, Ministry of Education; and DSO National Laboratories, Ministry of Defense. He is a member of NUS President’s taskforce on Global Asia Institute.

He is known globally for his pioneering work on engineering the nanofibers for regeneration of tissues, harvesting of sunlight, and treatment of water. According to the ISI Web of Knowledge, he is ranked 71st in the world in Materials Science by Essential Science Indicators. He contributed extensively peer-reviewed papers in areas such as biocomposites, nanofibers, tissue engineering, renewable energy, and water treatment membranes.

He demonstrated that electrospun nanofiber scaffolds are desirable in regenerative medicine to provide biomimetic microenvironment for cells. His team is now investigating the use of engineered nanofiber scaffolds in the capture and lineage commitment of stem-cells.

Using modified electrospinning process he is able to produce a wide range of high aspect ratio metal oxide nanofibers with unique semi-conducting properties. As a proof of concept, an excitonic solar cell was constructed with TiO2 nanofibers, which showed an energy conversion efficiency of 6%. Leveraging on these exciting results his team is now developing breathable solar fabrics using green processing methods.

He demonstrated that electrospun nanofibrous membrane is suitable for microfiltration of water. His team is now tailoring nanofibrous membranes for ultrafiltration and nanofiltration.

He serves on the editorial boards of twenty international journals. He is an advisor to innovation driven companies such as StemLife, Biomers International and NanoComposite Inc, Coatano. He is a recipient of Changjiang Professorship of China, ASEAN Outstanding Engineering Award, Lee Kuan Yew Fellowship, and Cambridge Nehru Scholarship. He is a Fellow of major professional engineering societies in Singapore, UK and USA.