Dr. Sairam Tangirala

TOP CLAW RECIPIENT

Dr. Sairam Tangirala

Professor of Physics

Office I-3128
Office phone
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Biography

Dr. Sairam Tangirala obtained his Ph.D. and interdisciplinary certificate in university teaching from the University of Georgia, Athens, Ga. In graduate school, he worked with Dr. David Landau and simulated polymer film growth using statistical physics based computations.

As faculty at GGC, he is involved in teaching undergraduate STEM courses and in conducting research that includes applied computer science, data science and analytics, and scholarship of teaching and learning.

During his educational and professional leave in 2021, he worked as a post-doctoral visiting faculty researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory and performed research on high-entropy alloy systems using statistical physics and artificial intelligence methods.

Education

  • Doctorate – computational physics – University of Georgia
  • Master's – data science and analytics – Georgia State University
  • Master's – mathematical risk management – Georgia State University

Academic Interests

  • Computational physics
  • Data science and analytics
  • Robotics and automation
  • Diversity, equity and inclusion in education

Distinctions

  • Post-Doctoral Visiting Faculty Researcher, Los Alamos National Laboratory (fall 2021)
  • Scientific Teaching Mentor, Yale Center for Teaching and Learning Mobile Summer Institute (2021)
  • Interdisciplinary Certificate in University Teaching, University of Georgia (2011)
  • Outstanding graduate teaching assistant award, University of Georgia (2011)
  • Robert M. Wood teaching award, University of Georgia (2011)
  • Award for the best graduate level computation science poster, TeraGrid’10 High Performance Computing conference (2010)
  • Award for the best graduate level computation science electronic poster, TeraGrid’09 High Performance Computing conference (2009)

Research Awards

  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute Inclusive Excellence (HHMI IE3) Phase I Grant – Working group member focusing on data mining and data analyses that inform the need for inclusive teaching to improve student retention and graduation; continued data analysis, assessment and evaluation of the project (2022)
  • National Science Foundation (award#2107567) – Co-principal investigator on project titled “RUI: Extraction, Purification and Characterization of the Interaction between Cyclotide and Cyclotide Aggregates with Lipid Bilayers” (2021)
  • NASA-MINDS grant to mentor GGC’s six-student team for participating in a competition for their project “Structural Analysis Using Contact-less Evaluation-2.0” (2022)
  • NASA-MINDS award for mentoring student-project titled “3D Space Printers” (2021)
  • NASA-MINDS grant for mentoring student project “Structural Analysis Using Contact-less Evaluation” (2021)
  • University System of Georgia (USG) grant for the development of Open Education Resource development of instructor’s materials for “Science of Everyday Materials” (2020)
  • Senior personnel on “University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents STEM IV Grant: Capitalizing on Peer Supplemental Instruction to Cultivate Academic Mindset Across Campus” (2019 – 2022)