Mridul Gautam

Dr. Gautam is the Vice President for Research and Innovation, professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno. Prior to joining the University of Nevada, Reno in October 2013, he served as the associate vice president for research at West Virginia University (WVU) as well as the vice president for the WVU Research Corporation. He is an internationally recognized expert in the area of heavy-duty mobile source exhaust emissions, aerosol sampling, and particulate matter measurement, characterization, and control.

As a member of the President's Council, Dr. Gautam advises on major policy issues affecting the University and serves as the Institutional Official. He provides leadership for articulating and implementing a shared vision for research and addresses state and national issues of compelling interest to the research community. His office strives to support world-class research and discovery, innovation and commercialization. Furthermore, it provides faculty, students and staff with the highest quality of administrative services and a competitive infrastructure that will enable faculty to excel in their research, scholarly and artistic endeavors. The office is focused on building interdisciplinary collaborations, serving University faculty in their career development, and facilitating connections with industry. Dr. Gautam oversees the support organizations that assist University researchers both in obtaining and managing funding and in conducting research with integrity in a safe and healthy environment. The office is committed to creating an innovative ecosystem in the region and providing conditions that foster entrepreneurship and enhance economic development. Dr. Gautam strives to create an environment that will afford faculty to have career, personal and life balances.

Dr. Gautam has over 27 years of experience in initiating and managing large interdisciplinary and multi-institutional programs. His areas of specialization are the characterization and control of combustion generated emissions, heavy-duty engines, and experimental multiphase flows with a particular emphasis on ultrafine and nanoparticles. Dr. Gautam has served as the principal investigator (P.I.) on over $27 million in funding, and as a P.I. and/or co-principal investigator on over $80 million in funded research. Dr. Gautam has published more than 400 technical articles including refereed journal articles, symposia/ published proceedings and published abstracts of papers presented at professional meetings. In addition to a licensing agreement to his credit, he has been a recipient of the Outstanding Aerosol Paper Award through the American Industrial Hygiene Association and the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, the Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award through the Society of Automotive Engineers, and several Outstanding Researcher of the Year awards at WVU. He serves on several national and state advisory committees and on several boards of directors. Dr. Gautam received his doctorate in mechanical engineering from West Virginia University in 1989 and his master’s in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in 1984.