Dr. Ajeet Rohatgi is a Regents’ Professor and a John H. Weitnauer, Jr. Chair in the College of Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.. He joined Georgia Tech’s ECE faculty in 1985 and is regarded as one of the world’s leading research scientists in photovoltaic (PV) technology. Dr. Rohatgi is also a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent. Scholar, the founding director of the University Center of Excellence for Photovoltaic Research and Education (UCEP, where Suniva got its start) and the founder and CTO of Suniva®, Inc.. Dr. Rohatgi has positioned Suniva as a U.S. leader in the research, development and manufacturing of high-efficiency, low-cost crystalline silicon cells using unique technology that evolved from his work at UCEP.. Under Dr. Rohatgi’s leadership, Suniva has accomplished several industry firsts and achievements, including the fastest ramp-up to 100MW production in the industry (and current expansion to 170MW); the raising of $270 million in capital since Suniva’s inception; the successful production of cell efficiencies exceeding 19%, and R&D cell efficiencies exceeding 20%.. Dr. Rohatgi received a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, in 1971, and a M.S. degree in Materials Engineering from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA in 1973. He received a Ph.D. in Metallurgy and Material Science from Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, in 1977.. Prior to joining the Electrical Engineering faculty at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Dr. Rohatgi was at the Westinghouse Research and Development Center in Pittsburgh, PA in 1977 and became a Westinghouse Fellow while working on the science and technology of photovoltaic and microelectronic devices.
