Ashok Vaseashta

Prof. Dr. Ashok Vaseashta is a scholar, researcher and thought leader who provides strategic leadership to promote and advance research initiatives and priorities in support of international defense, safety and security.
Prof. Dr. Ashok Vaseashta currently serves as the CEO/CTO and Executive Director of Research with the International Clean Water Institute, VA.  Concurrently, he serves as Chaired Professor of Nanotechnology at the Academy of Sciences, Academician at Euro-Mediterranean Academy of Arts and Sciences and Senior Strategic Research Advisor. He is a scholar and thought leader who provides strategic leadership to promote and advance research initiatives and priorities in support of international defense, safety and security. Prior to joining NJCU, he served as Vice Provost for Research at the Molecular Science Research Center in Orangeburg, South Carolina. He initiated an office of Strategic Partnerships & Initiatives (OSPI) to recruit commercial entities to enhance research footprint. He also served as the Director of Research at the Institute for Advanced Sciences Convergence (IASC) and International Clean Water Institute (ICWI) for Norwich University’s Applied Research Institutes and currently serves as strategic advisor. Prior to his appointment at NUARI, he served as a Professor of Physics and Physical Sciences and Director of Research at the Nanomaterials Processing and Characterization Laboratories, Graduate Program in Physical Sciences at Marshall University. Concurrently, he held Visiting Professorship at the 3 Nano-SAE Research Centre, University of Bucharest, Romania and visiting scientist at the Helen and Martin Kimmel Center of Nanoscale Science at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. In 2007-08, he was detailed as a William C. Foster fellow to the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation at the US Department of State. He also served (2009-13) as a Franklin Fellow and strategic S&T advisor in the U.S. Department of State. His research interests span nanotechnology, environmental/ecological science and safety and security. Much of his work in nanotechnology has been on improving the understanding, design, and performance of nanofibers and sensors/detectors, mainly for applications such as wearable electronics, target drug delivery, detection of biomarkers and toxicity of nano and xenobiotic materials. In the security arena, he has worked on counter-terrorism, countering unconventional warfare and hybrid threats, critical-Infrastructure protection, biosecurity, dual-use research concerns, and mitigating hybrid threats including fake-news. In addition, he has made numerous contributions in environmental/ecological science including directing research for International Clean Water Institute, pollution monitoring, contamination detection and remediation, and sustainability through green nanotechnology. He has authored over 250 research publications, edited/authored eight books on nanotechnology, and presented many keynote and invited lectures worldwide. He serves on the editorial board of Polish Journal of Environmental Studies, Digest Journal of Nano-bio structures and International Journal of Green Nanotechnology. He received PhD from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA in 1990 followed by Kobe post-doctoral fellowship. He is an active member of several national and international professional organizations. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society (FAPS), Institute of Nanotechnology (FIoN), and the New York Academy of Sciences (FNYAS). He was awarded a Gold medal by the State Engineering University of Armenia for his contribution to Nanotechnology. In addition, he has earned several other fellowships and awards for his meritorious service.
Research Interests: Nanotechnology - Chem-Bio sensors Counter-terrorism - CBRN, EW, UCW Water - Sensing, detection, management, technologies Biomimetics Foresight Decision support Green Nanotechnology Bio-Ethics.