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Details of THARA SRINIVASAN
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THARA SRINIVASAN
1471 Catherine Dr.
Berkeley, CA 94702
(510) 524-5467
utharas@gmail.com WORK EXPERIENCE
U.C. BERKELEY, 2003-2006 Berkeley, CA - Post-doctoral Researcher, Energy and Resources Group. My research in Prof. John Harte's group
includes work on three projects as described below:
o Coordinating a team on a policy paper on "ecological debt," specifically, estimating the costs to
society of various types of ecological degradation: climate change, deforestation, unsustainable
agricultural practices, overfishing and ozone layer depletion. Analyzing government and peerreviewed
data sets for accurate valuations of health and environmental damages.
o Initiated a study into the impacts of realistic extinction patterns in nature, collaborating with leading
experts in food web theory, Dr. Neo Martinez and Dr. Jennifer Dunne.
o Developed and tested new theory as part of a macroecological model describing spatial patterns of
biodiversity, with practical applications to conservation management and policy.
- Post-doctoral Researcher and Visiting Lecturer, Electrical Engineering.
o Co-developed graduate class with Prof. Roger Howe, Introduction to Microelectromechanical
Systems Design (85 students enrolled). Received excellent student reviews for this interdisciplinary
class, which brought together topics and students from electrical, chemical, bio- and mechanical
engineering, materials science and physics.
o Developed biomimetic techniques for the synthesis of custom porous catalyst materials, working
with the Diatom Nanosynthesis Group directed by Profs. Roger Howe and Jay Keasling. Designed
microfluidic chip to form these materials using resource and energy-efficient methods.
PREDICANT, INC., 2002 South San Francisco, CA
- Consultant. Consulted for senior management on the design of microfluidic features for a lab-on-a-chip
application in diagnostics.
ACLARA BIOSCIENCES, 2001-2002 Mountain View, CA
- Senior Research Engineer, Microfabrication and Microfluidics Group. Designed and developed
fabrication processes for microfluidic chips with specified fluidic channel geometries, surface properties,
and layouts. Initiated R&D effort to integrate micro-optics onto microfluidic chips using microassembly
techniques for portable diagnostics applications.
EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY Berkeley, CA
- Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, May 2001. Thesis title: Fluidic Self-Assembly of Microstructures Using
Capillary Forces. GPA: 3.82
- National Science Foundation fellowship, 1995-8. Outstanding Teaching Assistant award, 1996.
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY Princeton, NJ
- B.S. in Chemical Engineering, summa cum laude, May 1995. Thesis title: Preparation of Mesoporous
Silicates and Nanocomposite Applications. Certificate in Materials Science. GPA: 3.98.
- Departmental and General Honors, Phi Beta Kappa, Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Xi. Award for Most Creative
Research done in a senior thesis project. Outstanding Achievement Award in Chemical Engineering
Department, May 1993.
- Certificate in Creative Writing, Fiction; wrote novel with mentors Toni Morrison and Joyce Carol Oates.
RECENT PROPOSALS
- Co-wrote NSF proposal with Prof. J. Harte, "On the Spatial Structure of Vegetation Communities at
Multiple Spatial Scales: Advancing and Testing a Comprehensive Theory of Macroecology," ~$300,000.
Funded 6/05.
- Co-wrote DARPA seed proposal with Prof. R. T. Howe, and J. Keasling, "Diatom-Inspired Micro/-
Nanostructured Materials for Reconfigurable Microsystems," ~$200,000. Funded 7/04.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
- U. T. Srivasan, J. A. Dunne, J. Harte and N. D. Martinez, "Response of Complex Food Webs to Realistic
Extinction Sequences," Ecology, to be published, 2007.
- U. Srinivasan, M. A. Helmbrecht, R. S. Muller, and R. T. Howe, "MEMS: Some Self-Assembly Required,
Optics and Photonic News, November 2002, pp. 20-24, 56. Invited.
- U. Srinivasan, M. A. Helmbrecht, C. Rembe, R. S. Muller, and R.T. Howe, "Fluidic Self-Assembly of
Micromirrors onto Microactuators Using Capillary Forces," IEEE Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, 8
(1), Jan. 2002, p. 4-11. Invited.
- U. Srinivasan, R. T. Howe and D. Liepmann, "Microstructure to Substrate Self-Assembly Using Capillary
Forces," Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, 10 (1), March 2001, p. 17-24.
- U. Srinivasan, M. R. Houston, R. T. Howe, and R. Maboudian, "Alkyltrichlorosilane-Based Self-
Assembled Monolayer Films for Stiction Reduction in Silicon Micromachines," Journal of
Microelectromechanical Systems, 7 (2), June 1998, p. 252-60.
- U. Srinivasan, M. Helmbrecht, C. Rembe, R. S. Muller, and R. T. Howe, "Fluidic Self-Assembly of
Micromirrors onto Surface Micromachined Actuators," IEEE/LEOS Int. Conf. on Optical MEMS, Kauai,
HI, USA, Aug. 21-24, 2000, p. 59-60.
- U. Srinivasan, D. Liepmann, and R. T. Howe, "Fluidic Microassembly Using Patterned Self-Assembled
Monolayers and Shape Matching," Transducers '99, Int. Conf. on Solid State Sensors and Actuators, Sendai,
Japan, June 7-10 1999, p. 1170-3.
- U. Srinivasan, J. D. Foster, U. Habib, R. T. Howe, R. Maboudian, D. C. Senft, and M. T. Dugger,
"Lubrication of Polysilicon Micromechanisms with Self-Assembled Monolayers," Solid State Sensor and
Actuator Workshop. Hilton Head, SC, June 8-11 1998, p. 156-61.
- U. Srinivasan, M. R. Houston, R. T. Howe, and R. Maboudian, "Self-Assembled Fluorocarbon Films for
Enhanced Stiction Reduction, Transducers '97, Int. Conf. on Solid State Sensors and Actuators, Chicago, IL,
June 16-19, 1997, p. 1399-402.
- Co-inventor on U. S. Patent #6,114,044, Method of Drying Passivated Micromachines by Dewetting
from a Liquid-Based Process.
- Co-inventor on patent application filed by Predicant Inc., April 24, 2003.
CONSULTING
- Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque NM, 1996-1998; Onix Microsystems, Berkeley CA, 1999-
2000; Hughes Research Laboratories, Malibu CA, November 2004; Avery Research, Pasadena CA, July
2004; Lightconnect, Newark CA, March 2004; IME Labs at A-Star, Singapore, January 2005.
INTERESTS
- Published poetry in several journals including the conservation-oriented Snowy Egret.
- Accomplished artist and classical flutist.
• Volunteer plant propagator at UC Botanical Garden.
Category: Environmental Engineering
Type: Scientist & Engineers
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