Texas Tech University professor Seshadri Ramkumar has won the 2016 President’s Excellence in Commercialization Award.
Ramkumar, professor of technical textiles and countermeasures to chemical threats in Lubbock-based Texas Tech’s Department of Environmental Toxicology and The Institute of Environmental and Human Health (TIEHH), was recognized for his contributions to nonwoven materials.
“I am humbled by this honor as it recognizes translational efforts,” Ramkumar said in a press release. “Texas Tech has to be applauded for creating many programs to support ‘mind-to-market research’ and helping young students to be entrepreneurs. The next phase of research is all about technology transfer, and Texas Tech is rightfully investing in this effort by involving in programs such as 3 Day Startup, the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps, 1 Million Cups and more.”
Ramkumar’s research focuses on developing value-added materials using nonwovens and nanotechnology. He created FiberTect, a nonwoven decontamination wipe capable of cleaning chemical threat agents, and supervises the Nonwoven and Advanced Materials Laboratory within TIEHH. He is an associate editor for the AATCC Journal of Research published by the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists, and serves on the editorial boards of other international peer-reviewed journals. He is also a frequent contributor to Advanced Textiles Source.
He has organized international conferences on advances in fibrous materials in India, promoting bilateral relations in the field of technical textiles between the United States and India, and he received an honorary fellowship from the Textile Association (India).