V. "Chandra" Chandrasekar, Deputy Director of the Engineering Research Center for Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA), has been named "Distinguished Professor of Finland" by the Finnish Government. This is a prestigious designation given to a few foreign scientists. Essentially, Chandra reports, the role is to advise and develop U.S. research collaboration with Finnish and European counterparts. The amount of the award is $1.5 million (1 million Euros), which will fund collaborative research between Finland  and the U.S.  This collaboration with the US will be administered by the Finnish Innovation Foundation and the University of Helsinki. 

Chandra is a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Colorado State University, one of the partner institutions of CASA, which is headquartered at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. CASA is developing a network of innovative radar systems for deployment across the country. In addition to being Deputy Director of the ERC, he is also the leader of CASA’s Sensing research thrust.

The Finnish Meteorology Institute, The University of Helsinki, and a consortium of Finnish industries along with the Finnish Agency Foundation for Technology and Innovation will honor Dr. Chandrasekar during a visit to Finland in early May 2010. 

Upon notifying his colleagues of the award, Chandra said, “When we receive these awards and honors, I always remember NSF and my collaborators within the ERC. It is only through the great opportunities provided by the NSF and the program managers who believed in our research, and the collaboration with excellent colleagues within the ERC, that such things are possible.”

He will continue his research at CSU and with CASA, but will have new opportunities to promote his area of research abroad, including membership on prestigious research policy boards in Europe.