Dr. Chalamala is Jonsson School Distinguished Chair and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Texas at Dallas. Prior to joining UT Dallas in November 2025, he was a Senior Scientist at Sandia National Laboratories, where he provided strategic vision for research areas in grid modernization, power electronics and energy storage technologies. He also led the Energy Storage Technology and Systems Department for eight years. Prior to Sandia, he spent twenty years in engineering and R&D management roles at MEMC Electronic Materials, Indocel Technologies, Motorola and Texas Instruments. He also had founding roles in two startup companies focused on commercializing large format lithium batteries and digital x-ray sources.
Dr. Chalamala is a Fellow of the IEEE, AAAS, Materials Research Society, and the National Academy of Inventors and a member of the UN Council of Engineers for Energy Transition. He currently serves on the Governing Board of the IEEE Power and Energy Society as Vice President of Conferences and Meetings, and as Chair of the Grid Interfaces Committee of the IEEE Transportation Electrification Council. He is a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Power and Energy Society. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from the University and his B.Tech in Electronics and Communications Engineering from Sri Venkateswara University. He was elected as a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2024, and received the 2025 IEEE USA Harry Diamond Award.