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December 2, 2016

Dr. Ramesh Nair has been appointed the Assistant Director of Operations for the Research Computing Center (RCC). In his new role, Dr. Nair will oversee RCC’s various programs and operations and will contribute to its strategic planning. Dr. Nair will work collaboratively with University faculty and RCC users to understand and ensure RCC’s research computing resources meet their current and future computational and data needs.

Dr. Nair earned his PhD in biotechnology from the University of Saskatchewan and has more than 13 years of experience in accomplished operations management, with extensive experience in developing strategies, implementing process, and managing research projects. Most recently, he served as associate director at Chromatin, Inc., which was founded using technology developed at the University of Chicago, developing strategic plans to establish a bioenergy trait development program and project funding through federal grants. He co-authored and led a DOE-funded Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) proposal to produce Plants Engineered to Replace Oil (PETRO), and secured $7.3 million in funding from ARPA-E to develop biofuel precursor molecules. In addition to serving as project manager and technical lead for the PETRO project involving six institutions, Dr. Nair managed and mentored a technical team of research scientists with expertise in bioinformatics, database development, molecular biology, biochemistry, and transformation.

His other professional experience includes serving as director of crop development at Edenspace Systems Corporation in Manhattan, Kansas, establishing a world-class research facility for plant transformation, and developing a three-year strategic plan to develop feed stocks that are ideal for the conversion of biomass to biofuels.

He was an associate scientist at the Plant Sciences Institute at Iowa State University, where he developed high- and medium-throughput methods to analyze cell wall components. He has also worked as a research scientist at Pioneer Hi-Bred International, a DuPont company, in Johnston, Iowa, developing and executing a research program to improve corn grain quality for animal nutrition and bioethanol production. He is the co-inventor on 12 patent awards throughout his professional career, with many more applications still pending.  

The Research Computing Center is dedicated to responding to the computational needs of our research faculty. Dr. Nair will help to manage RCC’s programs and will be responsible for coordinating programming with academic and administrative units at the University. Please join us in welcoming him to the University of Chicago community.

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The Research Computing Center is part of the Office of the Executive Vice President for Research, Innovation and National Laboratories, which provides guidance and central administrative support to UChicago researchers and scholars in their pursuit of new knowledge and novel solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems. You can learn more about the full range of services and support offered at evpresearch.uchicago.edu

Dr. Ramesh Nair

Dr. Ramesh Nair, the new Assistant Director of Operations for the Research Computing Center.