Indian-American poised to head the US National Science Foundation

Washington, June 9, (ANI): Subra Suresh, the 54-year-old Dean of engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is poised to head the prestigious US National Science Foundation, which funds research in the non-medical sciences, MIT News Office report has revealed.

If recommended by the Senate, Suresh would be the first Indian-American to head the organisation.

Suresh, a student of mechanical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, received his doctoral degree form MIT in 1981.

His seniors have welcomed Suresh's recommendation.

"Usually interdisciplinary, he's truly made himself proficient in a number of areas and joined them in ways that have had an impact." Ben Freund, a mechanical engineer at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, who in 1983 recruited Suresh as an assistant professor there, was quoted, as saying.

If finally confirmed, Suresh faces some tough challenges also.

The probable freezing of funds for the agency in wake of the increasing national debt will be the top concern for him, as it is very unlikely that Congress will set the NSF's budget until after the midterm elections in November. (ANI)