{{Short description|Indian-American physicist and engineer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}} {{Use Indian English|date=May 2023}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Akhlesh Lakhtakia | image = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1957|7|1}} | birth_place = [[Lucknow]], India | citizenship = United States | alma_mater = {{Plainlist| * [[IIT (BHU) Varanasi|IIT (BHU)]] (BTech, 1979; DSc, 2006) * [[University of Utah]] (MS, 1981; PhD, 1983) }} | known_for = {{Plainlist| * [[Sculptured thin film]]s * Complex-medium electromagnetics * Bioreplication }} | fields = {{Plainlist| * [[Electromagnetics]] * [[Nanotechnology]] * [[Materials science]] }} | workplaces = [[Pennsylvania State University]] | awards = {{Plainlist| * SPIE Technical Achievement Award (2010) * Walston Chubb Award for Innovation (2016) }} | notable_students = [[Shanker Balasubramaniam]] }}
'''Akhlesh Lakhtakia''' (born 1 July 1957) is an Indian-American physicist and engineer who is Evan Pugh University Professor and Charles Godfrey Binder Professor of [[Engineering Science|engineering science]] and mechanics at [[Pennsylvania State University]].<ref name="psu-evan-pugh">{{cite web |url=https://news.psu.edu/story/520224/2018/05/04/academics/four-faculty-members-honored-evan-pugh-professorships |title=Four faculty members honored with Evan Pugh Professorships |date=4 May 2018 |publisher=Penn State University |access-date=25 January 2026}}</ref>
His research focuses on electromagnetic fields in complex materials, including [[sculptured thin film]]s, [[chirality (electromagnetism)|chiral materials]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lakhtakia |first=Akhlesh |title=Beltrami Fields in Chiral Media |publisher=World Scientific |location=Singapore |year=1994 |url=http://www.worldscibooks.com/chemistry/2031.html |access-date=2010-07-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100103063133/http://worldscibooks.com/chemistry/2031.html |archive-date=2010-01-03 |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[bi-isotropic material|bianisotropy]],<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Mackay |first1=Tom G. |last2=Lakhtakia |first2=Akhlesh |title=Electromagnetic Anisotropy and Bianisotropy: A Field Guide |publisher=World Scientific |location=Singapore |year=2010 |url=http://www.worldscibooks.com/physics/7515.html |access-date=2009-12-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101013004900/http://www.worldscibooks.com/physics/7515.html |archive-date=2010-10-13 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and bioreplication, a form of engineered [[biomimetics|biomimicry]] applied to solar energy harvesting and pest eradication.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/S1672-6529(13)60207-3 |volume=10 |issue=2 |title=Fabrication of Polymeric Visual Decoys for the Male Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) |journal=Journal of Bionic Engineering |pages=129–138 |year=2013 |last1=Pulsifer |first1=Drew P. |last2=Lakhtakia |first2=Akhlesh |last3=Narkhede |first3=Mahesh S. |last4=Domingue |first4=Michael J. |last5=Post |first5=Beverly G. |last6=Kumar |first6=Jayant |last7=Martín-Palma |first7=Raúl J. |last8=Baker |first8=Thomas C. |s2cid=138662701}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Dickinson |first=Boonsri |title=Fly eye inspires biomimetic surfaces for solar cell production |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/fly-eye-inspires-biomimetic-surfaces-for-solar-cell-production/ |access-date=2020-07-26 |website=ZDNet}}</ref> His technique for visualization of latent fingerprints was featured in the [[Nova (American TV program)|NOVA]] documentary "Forensics on Trial".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/forensics-on-trial/ |title=Forensics on Trial |publisher=PBS NOVA}}</ref>
== Education == Lakhtakia was born in [[Lucknow]], India. He obtained a Bachelor of Technology degree in electronics engineering from the [[IIT (BHU) Varanasi|Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi]] in 1979.<ref name="gmu-cina">{{cite web |title=Dr. Akhlesh Lakhtakia |url=https://cina.gmu.edu/people/dr-akhlesh-lakhtakia/ |website=Center for India and the Americas |publisher=George Mason University |date=3 October 2022 |access-date=25 January 2026}}</ref> He then earned Master of Science (1981) and Doctor of Philosophy (1983) degrees in electrical engineering from the [[University of Utah]].<ref name="gmu-cina"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://ulink.utah.edu/s/1077/16/interior.aspx?sid=1077&gid=1&pgid=474 |title=Boards |publisher=University of Utah}}</ref> He later received a Doctor of Science degree in electronics engineering from [[Banaras Hindu University]] in 2006.<ref name="gmu-cina"/>
== Academic career == Lakhtakia joined the faculty of Pennsylvania State University in 1983.<ref name="gmu-cina"/><ref name="psu-ntut">{{cite web |url=https://news.engr.psu.edu/2021/lakhtakia-akhlesh-ntut-appointment.aspx |title=Engineering science and mechanics researcher named International Chair Professor |publisher=Penn State College of Engineering |date=2021 |access-date=25 January 2026}}</ref> He was elevated to the rank of Distinguished Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics in January 2004.<ref name="gmu-cina"/> In 2006, he became the Charles Godfrey Binder (Endowed) Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics.<ref name="psu-site">{{cite web |url=http://www.esm.psu.edu/~axl4/ |title=Akhlesh Lakhtakia |website=www.esm.psu.edu}}</ref> In 2018, he was named Evan Pugh University Professor, the highest academic rank at Penn State.<ref name="psu-evan-pugh"/><ref name="gmu-cina"/>
He was the first [[editor-in-chief]] (2007–2013) of the ''Journal of Nanophotonics'' published by [[SPIE]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://spie.org/x3650.xml |title=Journal of Nanophotonics |website=spie.org}}</ref>
Lakhtakia has held visiting positions at several institutions, including the [[University of Glasgow]] (1995), [[University of Dortmund]] (1997), [[Stanford University]] (1998), [[Tsukuba University]] (1999), and [[Imperial College London]] (2004–2007).<ref name="gmu-cina"/> He served as Honorary International Chair Professor at [[National Taipei University of Technology]] from 2020 to 2023.<ref name="psu-ntut"/>
== Honors and awards == Lakhtakia headed the IEEE EMC Technical Committee on Nonsinusoidal Fields from 1992 to 1994.<ref name="gmu-cina"/> He has served as an international lecturer for the International Commission for Optics, SPIE, and the Optical Society of America.<ref name="sigmaxi">{{cite web |url=https://www.sigmaxi.org/programs/prizes-awards/william-procter/award-winner/akhlesh-lakhtakia |title=Akhlesh Lakhtakia |publisher=Sigma Xi |access-date=25 January 2026}}</ref>
He received the PSES Outstanding Research Award in 1996, the PSES Outstanding Advising Award and the Faculty Scholar Medal in Engineering in 2005, and the PSES Premier Research Award in 2008. Nanotech Briefs recognized him in 2006 with a Nano 50 Award for Innovation. The [[University of Utah]] named him a Distinguished Alumnus in 2007,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alumni.utah.edu/u-news/april07/founders_day.htm |title=University of Utah Alumni Association e-newsletter, U-News & Views, April 2007 |website=www.alumni.utah.edu}}</ref> and the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi did likewise in 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://chicago2014.iitbhuglobal.org/2014/05/21/confirmed-panel-members-research-development-dr-vijay-batra-dr-akhlesh-lakhtakia/ |title=Distinguished Alumnus Awardees |access-date=2015-01-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150104003710/http://chicago2014.iitbhuglobal.org/2014/05/21/confirmed-panel-members-research-development-dr-vijay-batra-dr-akhlesh-lakhtakia/ |archive-date=2015-01-04 |url-status=dead}}</ref> He was named the winner of the SPIE Technical Achievement Award for 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://spie.org/x40492.xml |title=Akhlesh Lakhtakia honored with SPIE Technology Achievement Award |website=spie.org}}</ref> He received the PSEAS Outstanding Teaching Award in 2016 and the Walston Chubb Award for Innovation from [[Sigma Xi]] in 2016 for conceptualizing and developing sculptured thin films.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sigmaxi.org/programs/prizes-awards/walston-chubb |title=Walston Chubb |website=www.sigmaxi.org}}</ref>
Lakhtakia is a Fellow of the [[Optical Society of America]] (1992), [[SPIE]] (1996), the [[Institute of Physics]] (UK, 1996), the [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]] (2009), the [[American Physical Society]] (2012), the [[Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers]] (2016), the [[Royal Society of Chemistry]] (UK, 2016), and the [[Royal Society of Arts]] (UK, 2017).<ref name="gmu-cina"/><ref name="sigmaxi"/>
== Selected books == * ''Time-Harmonic Fields in Chiral Media'' (1989) * ''Beltrami Fields in Chiral Media'' (1994) * ''Models and Modelers of Hydrogen'' (1996) * ''Electromagnetic Fields in Unconventional Materials and Structures'' (2000) * ''The Design of Innovation'' (2002) * ''Sculptured Thin Films: Nanoengineered Morphology and Optics'' (2005) * ''Nanotechnology: A Crash Course'' (2010) * ''Electromagnetic Surface Waves: A Modern Perspective'' (2013) * ''Engineered Biomimicry'' (2013) * ''Modern Analytical Electromagnetic Homogenization'' (2015) * ''Infinite-Space Dyadic Green Functions in Electromagnetism'' (2018) * ''Electromagnetic Anisotropy and Bianisotropy: A Field Guide'' (2nd ed., 2019) * ''The Transfer-Matrix Method in Electromagnetics and Optics'' (2020)
== References == {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lakhtakia, Akhlesh}} [[Category:1957 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Scientists from Lucknow]] [[Category:Indian emigrants to the United States]] [[Category:Banaras Hindu University alumni]] [[Category:University of Utah alumni]] [[Category:Pennsylvania State University faculty]] [[Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society]] [[Category:Fellows of the IEEE]] [[Category:Fellows of Optica (society)]] [[Category:Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science]] [[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry]] [[Category:Fellows of the Institute of Physics]] [[Category:Fellows of SPIE]] [[Category:American electrical engineers]] [[Category:Electrical engineering academics]] [[Category:Optical engineers]] [[Category:Metamaterials scientists]]