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“The future exists in latent form in the present,” he said. “If we can identify dangerous conditions, such as cancer growth, in their latent phase, intervention is easy and less costly.”
“We’re trying to migrate flexible electronics into that area of application. In effect, our cars are better monitored than our bodies are,” he concluded.
“Desu’s research is goal-oriented — he’s a real engineer who wants to solve a problem,” said William T. Reynolds Jr., professor of materials science and engineering and director of the Nanoscale Characterization and Fabrication Facility at Virginia Tech.
Reynolds recalls a situation in which Desu’s students were working on chemical vapor deposition of silicon-carbide thin films on silicon, and they serendipitously discovered a way to reduce defects in silicon carbide. Somewhat accidentally, they started their deposition on a rough silicon surface. Rather than throwing out the result as a failed experiment, they looked at the outcome with fresh eyes and fit the surprise result between different layers in their thin films.
“It was something they found on the side that had interesting results,” he continued. “It was a good idea that worked and is now used commonly.”
Reynolds, who sat on the thesis committees for several of Desu’s students, noted how they had adopted his approach to research.
“Those students were open to what they came upon because they didn’t have blinders on. And at the same time, they were not randomly experimenting,” he added.
“Desu doesn’t expect a specific result, but takes a path toward a goal by following a strategy,” Reynolds said.
— Katherine Karlson
| INSPIRING BOLD THINKING | An environment in which creativity is valued and the culture of innovation is promoted is essential, and not just to an entrepreneurial economy. “This same environment also encourages ground-breaking research and provides students with the best possible education,” said Seshu Desu, new dean of Binghamton’s Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science.  “The environment must be conducive to intellectual risk-taking. People must feel they are important and part of something larger than themselves. Students, graduates and undergraduates alike, must feel that they are making a difference in the world,” Desu said. “Our vision has to be bold, and to achieve that vision successfully it should be translated into the aspirations of individuals in the institution.” A former colleague at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where Desu was head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, described how he keyed in on the faculty to advance undergraduate education. “Desu put the best teachers, who are usually the best researchers, in front of the first- and second-year students, where at most other schools, they teach only graduate students,” said Weibo Gong, professor in that department and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IE) Fellow. “He has a deep understanding of education and applies ‘out-of-thebox’ thinking to it. Desu recognizes that undergraduates are the backbone of the university, and he therefore puts the students first, because they are the future,” Gong added. Desu said it’s essential to retain and develop faculty who have strengths in both research and teaching. “From that vantage point,” he added, “I need to identify the innate potential in people within the school and provide them with the necessary resources and freedom so that they can flourish.” |
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