Suresh Babu, the UT-Oak Ridge National Laboratory Governor’s Chair for Advanced Manufacturing, was nominated this week by President Donald J. Trump to serve a six-year term on the National Science Board (NSB).

“I am very flattered, honored, and humbled to have been chosen for this nomination,” Babu said. “I am looking forward to helping the board in any way I can and to help set the course for science, technology, and engineering in the US.”

Babu, one of the world’s leading experts in developing advanced materials, serves on several multiuniversity and multipartner projects, including IACMI—The Composites Institute, and on projects for the US government that include research for the Navy.

He is an example of the many ways that UT and ORNL work together, holding appointments in the Tickle College of Engineering’s Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, as well as in the Energy and Environmental Sciences Directorate and the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL, with support from the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office.

In addition to his joint role as a Governor’s Chair, he is director of the Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education and works through the Joint Institute for Advanced Materials, both of which are UT-ORNL ventures.

“Now more than ever, science and technology play such a crucial role in America,” said Kelvin K. Droegemeier, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. “This robust and expanding group of leaders will best position the nation’s research and development enterprise to meet the challenges of today and the incredible opportunities of tomorrow.”

The NSB was created to serve along with the director in shaping policy and research for the National Science Foundation, including the pursuit of national policies for the promotion of research and education in science and engineering, and the funding and support that go with them. The board also advises the president and Congress on scientific matters and occasionally issues press releases and papers.