Growing up in a small town south of Bombay, India, Shekhar Garde, assistant professor of chemical engineering, did very well in school and dreamt of becoming a scientist. Years later Garde is not just a scientist but a good one if the Faculty Early Career Development award from the NSF is any measure.
Finishing his BS at the age of 20, Garde went to the University of Delaware to get a Ph.D. in chemical engineering. He joined Rensselaer in 1999 after he spent two years as a director’s postdoctoral fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Last December, Garde was awarded the NSF award to continue his work in quantitative modeling of water-induced bimolecular interactions. “The award means that I am in the right direction,” he said. Moreover, the five year, $374,965 grant will enable Garde to hire graduate students, buy lab equipment, and finance his research.
Also funded by the grant is the generation of an extensive computerized library of water-induced interactions between various protein constituents. The purpose is to develop efficient molecular-level models to study how proteins and other macromolecules self-assemble under various conditions in water, such as in extreme pressure or temperatures or in the presence of salt and other additives.
The award was not only recognition for Garde’s research, “but also for other science outreach programs,” he said. Such initiatives aim at attracting and retaining young talent and interest in science and engineering fields. “We have developed and are working on Java simulations” that would enable kids to understand chemical interactions, he said. Garde’s team is also working on a similar project with the Junior Museum here in Troy.
Although, the lab is where Garde spends most of his time, the great outdoors are the places he goes when he has spare time. “I go mountain hiking or biking, of course when it is not winter,” he said. Listening to Jazz or reading his favorite book Surely You are Joking Mr. Feynman are on top of his list during cold days. “It was after reading this book that I decided that Los Alamos National Lab would be a fun place to visit and work, which I did for two years as a post-doc,” he added.
