graduated from the Physics Department of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur in 1980. Joined the Physics Department, IIT Madras in 1982. As a Humboldt Fellow at University of Erlangen, Germany, he has worked on silicon solar cells (1989). Has established a laboratory for metal oxide thin films and surface engineering. Over the past ten years, his research efforts are on bio-medical engineering including the development of lung assist devices (using the principles of photocatalysis) and on early warning systems in mechanical heart valve failures (executed an Indo – European project on mechanical heart valves). Has designed and developed Kelvin probe equipment for surface engineering and authored the first book. Has six patents. His teaching experience spans over 30 years (DAAD Professor at TU Dresden, Germany).