Dr. Walajabad S. Sampath

Site Director, Center for Next Generation Photovoltaics

Professor

Mechanical Engineering

School of Advanced Materials Discovery

Dr. Sampath has been with the Mechanical Engineering department since 1985. Dr. Sampath’s research includes all aspects of CdTe thin film photovoltaics including basic physics to manufacturing technology.

Dr. Sampath founded the NSF Industry University Co-Operative Research Center (I/UCRC) on Next Generation Photovoltaics in 2009 and currently the site director at CSU. Currently the I/UCRC has three university sites and 20 Industrial members paying full membership, including leaders in photovoltaics (First Solar), energy (Statoil) and defense (Naval Postgraduate School)

The CdTe PV research group includes 25 faculty members, post-docs, grad. students and undergraduate students. Demonstrated highest efficiency CdTe photovoltaic devices (20.14%) among academic institutions.

Dr. Sampath’s work has resulted in more than 100 refereed conference and journal publications and 17 patents.

Contact Information

Resources

International Connections

Country: United Kingdom
Contact: Loughborough University, Research
Country: India
Contact: Amrita University
Country: Thailand
Contact: Asian Institute of Technology

Research Interests

Sustainable Energy
High Efficiency Photovoltaics
Density Functional Theory
Manufacturing Systems
Applications of Photovoltaics

Education

Ph.D. 1985, Arizona State University—Mechanical Engineering
M.Engr. 1982, Arizona State University—Mechanical Engineering
B.Tech. 1980, Indian Institute of Technology—Mechanical Engineering

Honors and Awards

2020- Awarded Abell award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
2017- Awarded Art Corey Outstanding International Contributions Award, College of Engineering.
2010 – Innovation Excellence Award, CUSRF
2009 – Abell Award for Economic Development, College of Engineering
2000 – Award of Excellence, CSU Engineering Faculty Council