Shashank Priya Curriculum Vitae
Shashank Priya is the University of Minnesota vice president for research, a position he has held since September 2022. In this position, he oversees a $1+ billion research enterprise across all campuses and facilities. He manages units responsible for administration of sponsored projects, research and regulatory compliance, and technology commercialization, as well as 10 interdisciplinary academic centers and institutes. He also oversees a growing corporate engagement portfolio for the University. Among his priorities are creating and growing UMN systemwide research initiatives, including an International Institute for BioSensing (IIB), a Discovery to Innovation Fund, a MN Bioimaging Center, and better access to shared research facilities.
Prior to joining the University of Minnesota, he was associate vice president for research and director of strategic initiatives at Penn State University, where, as a professor of materials science and engineering and a mechanical engineering adjunct professor, he led an interdisciplinary research group focused on developing bio-inspired materials, understanding the complex nature of properties in these materials, and utilizing them to invent unique applications.
To date, he has published over 450 peer-reviewed journal papers and book chapters and more than 60 conference proceedings. Additionally, he has published ten edited books, holds 12 patents, and has given more than 290 conference presentations and invited lectures His research has been funded by DARPA, AFOSR, ARO, NSF, DOE, ONR, and several industries. He is the founder and chair of the Annual Energy Harvesting Meeting.