Profile

Thyaga Nandagopal leads the Emerging Technologies Group at Samsung Research America, where he identifies and sources innovations that help shape Samsung Electronics’ future research and technology roadmap.

Previously, he served for three years as the inaugural division director of the Division of Innovation and Technology Ecosystems within the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships. In that role, he managed an annual budget of more than $350 million and established investments in convergent and translational research in emerging technologies, while advancing inclusive innovation ecosystems across the United States.

During his 12 years at the NSF, Nandagopal held roles ranging from program officer for advanced wireless research and infrastructure programs to senior executive in the Computer and Information Science and Engineering and Technology, Innovation and Partnerships directorates. In those positions, he led research and infrastructure programs that secured more than $150 million in contributions from external partners.

Before joining the NSF, Nandagopal conducted research at Bell Labs, where his work resulted in more than 30 patents in software-defined networking and wireless technologies. He is an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Fellow and earned a doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.