Profile

Over the past 36 years, Jag Sankar has developed high-profile, internationally recognized, advanced broad-based materials innovation and technology activities at North Carolina A&T State University (NCAT). He has served as director of the Center for Advanced Materials and Smart Structures, National Science Foundation’s CREST program, director for the Navy Center for Nanoscience and Nanomaterials, and site coordinator for the NSF-NSEC Center. Also under his leadership, NCAT was chosen to house the NSF’s Generation 3–ERC for Revolutionizing Metallic Biomaterials. Through these centers, Sankar and the team of collaborators he assembled have positioned NCAT in various leading advanced materials research and development through innovative public-private partnerships, leading to convergence of engineering and science in transformational materials development, processing, and future manufacturing. The author of more than 400 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and scientific papers, Sankar as PI alone has generated more than $60 million in competitive research funding for NCAT, filed 10 invention disclosures and patents, sponsored more than 25 international conferences/symposia and has given more than 60 addresses in major conferences related to future directions in transformational materials research, economic impact and next generation workforce development.

He also played a key role in establishing the bachelor’s and master’s in bioengineering degree programs at NCAT, the first standalone at an HBCU in the nation. One of the first distinguished university professors at NCAT, Sankar’s recognitions include the Order of the Long Leaf Pine Award, given by the governor of North Carolina; the Oliver Max Gardner Award, the highest faculty honor from the UNC 17 campus institution system; the White House Millennium Researcher award from the Department of Education; AAAS Mentor Award; and the Black Engineer STEM Innovation Award. He is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) and NanoSMAT society.