Nirmala Kandadai (Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR): Associate Professor in Electrical Engineering and director of the Fiber Optics, Laser, and Integrated Research (FLAIR) Lab, specializing in laser-matter interactions, ultrafast laser processing, fiber-optic sensors, and extreme-environment electronics for applications in sensing, material characterization, and reliable performance under harsh conditions relevant to space exploration.

Full bio:

Nirmala Kandadai (Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR) is an Assistant Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and director of the Fiber Optics, Laser, and Integrated Research (FLAIR) Lab. She specializes in laser-matter interactions, ultrafast laser processing, fiber-optic sensors, and extreme-environment electronics for applications in sensing, material characterization, and reliable performance under harsh conditions relevant to space exploration.

She received her B.E. in Electronics and Computer Engineering from Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (2004), and both her M.S. (2008) and Ph.D. (2012) in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, where she studied the interaction of high-intensity lasers with molecular gas clusters. Prior to joining Oregon State University, she worked as a Laser Scientist at National Energetics, contributing to the design and development of high-power ultrafast laser systems, including the front end of a 10 PW laser for the European Union’s Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI-Beamlines) facility. She previously served as a faculty member at Boise State University.

Dr. Kandadai’s research has been recognized with the Idaho Accomplished Under 40 award (2022) for her contributions to STEM. She has authored numerous publications in high-impact journals and actively advances technologies for extreme environments.