PNNL

Shuttha Shutthanandan, a materials scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), has been named an American Vacuum Society (AVS) fellow.

The honor recognizes AVS members who have made sustained and significant scientific and technical contributions in materials, interfaces, and processing. AVS is an interdisciplinary professional society that provides networking opportunities for academic, industrial, government, and consulting professionals in chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, and engineering related to basic science, technology development, and commercialization. There are over 4,500 members worldwide.

PNNL has five active staff members who are AVS fellows. Shutthanandan will be presented with his award on Oct. 27, 2021, at the AVS Awards Ceremony during the AVS 67^th International Symposium & Exhibition, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Shutthanandan’s fellowship acknowledges his “outstanding contributions to the development and application of specialized surface science and high-energy ion scattering capabilities to address materials and environmental problems and sharing his passion with next generation scientists.”

Shutthanandan has been a member of AVS since 1990 when he began his graduate studies. He is honored to be have been named a fellow.

“I am happy and grateful to share this honor with researchers who have invented and contributed greatly to the field of surface and material science,” Shutthanandan said. “After 30 years of working in this field, I am very thankful to be recognized for my work. As a fellow, I hope to continue developing new technologies and give back to my communities by mentoring students interested in fields related to AVS.”

As a world-renowned scientist in the ion beam and surface science communities, Shutthanandan conducts research in materials synthesis, modification, and characterizations using ion beam and X-ray beam techniques. He developed a unique ultrahigh-vacuum system combining traditional surface science capabilities with Rutherford backscattering spectrometry/channeling and nuclear reaction analysis for supporting local, national, and international users of the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy user facility located at PNNL.

Shutthanandan is working on integrating these technologies and techniques to enhance sub-nanometer-depth profiling and imaging of biological and environmental samples, in situ measurements, and site-specific radiation studies into his research. He is also involved in research on high-resolution imaging of biological systems, environmental monitoring, development of novel materials, atmospheric aerosols analysis, ion beam modification, and synthesis of nano materials. His efforts have resulted in over 300 publications, with a Google Scholar H-index of 48 with over 9,300 citations.

In addition to his research accomplishments, Shutthanandan also has a passion for mentoring and sharing science with students. Shutthanandan’s mentoring efforts have been recognized by two distinguished awards, a PNNL Laboratory Director’s (Fritzner Eberhart) Award for outstanding contribution to science education and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, Mentor of the Year Award