Baratunde A. Cola is an assistant professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He received his B.E (2002) and M.S. (2004) from Vanderbilt University and his Ph.D. (2008) from Purdue University, all in mechanical engineering. At Purdue, he was honored with an Intel Foundation Fellowship, a Purdue Doctoral Fellowship, and a NASA Institute of Nanoelectronics and Computing Fellowship. He was also the recipient of the Purdue College of Engineering’s “Outstanding Dissertation Award” for his research on photoacoustic characterization of carbon nanotube array thermal interfaces. He is a recipient of a 2011 NSF CAREER Award and 2009 DARPA Young Faculty Award. President Barack Obama selected him to receive the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientist and Engineers (PECASE) in 2012 for his work in nanotechnology, energy, and outreach to high school teachers and students. Dr. Cola’s research is focused on fabricating and exploring the properties of nanostructured materials, surfaces and interfaces to enhance energy transport and conversion, improve heat transfer characteristics, and enable MEMS and nanotechnology devices. He is particularly interested in investigating energy transport through interfaces and nanosized contacts.