Dr. Ajayan received his BT in Metallurgical Engineering at Banaras, India and his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Northwestern University. He is currently a professor at Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). Past positions include research at Max-Planck-Institut, NEC and Laboratoire de Physique des Solids. He has recieved the National Science Foundation CAREER Award; Burton Award of the Microscopy Society of America; Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship; and Presidential Student Award. He serves as an editorial board member of Advanced Materials, Zeitschrift fur Metallkunde, TIP Revista Especialzada en Quimico-Biologicas and Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology.