S.K. Sundaram, Inamori Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Alfred University, has been granted a joint appointment with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
As a joint appointee, Sundaram has access to resources and personnel at both Alfred University’s Inamori School of Engineering and the PNNL for the furtherance of his research initiatives. The joint appointment allows him to cite his dual affiliation in all publications that benefited from his collaborations with the PNNL.
Sundaram’s appointment is for five years, during which he will hold the title of chief scientist in PNNL’s Nuclear Sciences Division, Energy and Environment Directorate.
The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory in Richland, WA, operated by Battelle, which conducts cutting-edge research in energy resilience, national security (nuclear stewardship, nonproliferation), and environmental science. Sundaram was a materials scientist at PNNL from 1994 to 2010, before joining the Alfred University faculty. He joined the PNNL in 1994 as a post-doctoral fellow and in 1996 was appointed a senior research scientist. He became chief materials scientist at the laboratory in January 2002.
Sundaram recently had several original haikus published in Ceramic Tech Today, a publication of the American Ceramic Society (ACerS). Sundaram’s haikus, published in a piece titled “Homage to Traditional Ceramics,” appeared in the Nov. 27, 2025, issue of Ceramic Tech Today.
