Vaidyanathan (Ravi) Subramanian, associate professor of chemical engineering in the Chemical and Materials Engineering Department at the University of Nevada, Reno, recently returned from a four-month sabbatical in Finland where he taught students and conducted research as a part of the Fulbright Scholars Program.

"It is an honor to be selected as a Fulbright Distinguished Chair, and to be able to represent Nevada and the United States overseas," Subramanian said.

Subramanian was awarded Fulbright Fellow for 2016-17 and Fulbright Distinguished Chair, an honor that is viewed as among the most prestigious appointments within the program. According to the Fulbright Distinguished Chair requirements, a nominee must be an eminent scholar and have a significant publication and teaching record.

From Aug. 1 to Dec. 1, 2016, Subramanian took part in a combination of interdisciplinary research, teaching, multiple school outreach and international visits in and around Finland.

"Since Finland is globally recognized for its top-class education, I wanted to experience their STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education system first-hand to help our region's kindergarten through12th grade and higher education institutions," Subramanian said.

In collaboration with Orlando Rojas, a professor in the Department of Forest Products at Aalto University in Finland, he initiated two research projects on sustainable materials. The projects focus on the design, assembly, testing, and concept validation of multifunctional organic and inorganic hybrid materials. These hybrid materials can affect areas such as energy conversion, environmental remediation and bio-contaminant control, among other impacts, Subramanian said.

Subramanian helped teach a course on solar energy to a group of interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate students with STEM background as well as teaching a lab where the students assembled a cellulose-based solar cell so they would understand the challenges related to solar cell assembly, testing and interpretation of its performance.

Students from two Finnish schools had the opportunity to learn more about alternative and sustainable energy as well as activities in Nevada during Subramanian's visit to their schools. "There are a lot of opportunities that one can do collaborating in STEM disciplines with these schools and higher education institutions in Finland," Subramanian said.

Several international universities, including Aalto University, KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, and the University of Twente, Netherlands, received three technical presentations delivered by Subramanian. He also delivered one cultural presentation at the American Voices series, a seminar that provides individuals the opportunity to learn aspects of the American society and culture through American Fulbright awardees currently in Finland.

"The Finnish Fulbright office goes a long way to ensure that the visiting fellows get a holistic experience of Finnish education, arts, culture and politics," Subramanian said. "My time in Finland was an amazing and enriching experience."

The University brought Subramanian on as an assistant professor of chemical engineering in 2006, and promoted him as an associate professor of chemical engineering in 2012. He has become involved with several educational and outreach activities including a forum called Sustainable Energy Forum, which he created and established in 2009. He is a recipient of the Outstanding Undergraduate Mentorship Award from the University. He has published over 60 papers, with two papers having over 450 citations. Subramanian is also involved in national and international technical organizations and journal board in elected positions. He would like to thank his wife for her support; Chairman of the Chemical and Materials Engineering Department, Jeff LaCombe; Dean of Engineering, Manos Maragakis; Executive Vice President and Provost, Kevin Carman; and the CIES Department of State for his successful completion of this activity.