Ganesh (Gunny) Balakrishnan, Ph.D.

NM-EPSCoR Director & Principal Investigator of the NM SMART Grid Center
Professor, University of New Mexico Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Dr. Ganesh "Gunny" Balakrishnan became director of New Mexico NSF EPSCoR on March 1, 2022. He brings over ten years of experience to NM EPSCoR, serving as PI on fifteen large grants in addition to numerous Co-PI appointments. He will continue to teach in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of New Mexico and will be actively involved in research at the Center for High Technology Materials, working on semiconductor materials and devices. Prior to the EPSCoR directorship, he was the Program Chair for the Optical Science and Engineering Program and the Associate Department Chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.

Dr. Balakrishnan’s primary research focus for the past decade has been the growth and characterization of highly mismatched III-Sb compound semiconductors on GaAs and Silicon substrates. The specific contribution made by Dr. Balakrishnan to this area of research is the novel use of interfacial misfit dislocation arrays in enabling low defect-density, bufferless, monolithic integration of III-Sb on GaAs and Silicon substrates for increased antimonide device functionality on mature platforms. His body of work using molecular beam epitaxy has resulted in over 60 peer-reviewed publications, 30 conference presentations and several patents.

Foundation Board
Term Expires: December 31, 2026