Dr. Srikanth Pilla is a Professor and Director of the Center for Composite Materials at the University of Delaware (UD-CCM) with faculty appointments in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering. He is also the Founding Director of ‘AIM for Composites,’ a Department of Energy-funded Energy Frontier Research Center. Pilla also co-directs IDeAS Composites, an NSF National Research Traineeship program focused on training next-generation composite leaders.

Pilla earned his doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with postdoctoral training from Stanford University. Before joining UD-CCM, Pilla held the ExxonMobil Employees Chair in Engineering at Clemson University and was the founding director of the Clemson Composites Center. Pilla also worked as an Assistant Scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Pilla’s research interests lie in the fundamentals and applications of sustainable and lightweight functional materials and manufacturing. He has co-authored over 150 peer-reviewed archival publications. His research is supported by NSF, DOE, USDA, DOD, and NASA, as well as several foundations and industries, including automotive OEMs and their suppliers. Pilla is a fellow of the Society of Plastics Engineers and is the recipient of the 2021 Green Chemistry Challenge award from the Environmental Protection Agency and the 2022 Team award from the Department of Energy Vehicle Technologies Office.