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Tummala receives Tech's highest
faculty award

When Rao Tummala decided in 1993 to leave his position as a Fellow and Director of Advanced Packaging at IBM for a professorship at Georgia Tech, it was in large part due to his youngest son.

"One day at the dinner table, out of the blue, my son Suneel declared that he wanted to go to college at Georgia Tech. I said, 'why not MIT,' and he said, 'Georgia Tech is a very good school.' So we decided to take a look," Tummala said.

According to Tummala, within an hour of being on campus, his son decided to enroll and after doing a bit of research of his own during that unexpected visit, Tummala decided to join him.

"I talked to the dean who was aware of my work at IBM. He told me that they had a chaired professorship open and that they had been trying to recruit someone from IBM for that position. The high quality programs, the friendliness of the people and the fact that my son would be here all influenced my decision. So, I left my dream job, dream house and friends in the Hudson Valley (New York) and accepted the job. I liked it from the moment I came here," he said.

Since Tummala came to Tech in 1993, he has received praise for his distinguished work as the Pettit Chair Professor in Electronics Packaging and Director of Tech's Packaging Research Center (PRC). (See article below.) On May 21, his achievements in the classroom and as a researcher were recognized when he received the 1998 Distinguished Professor award at the annual Faculty/ Staff Honors Luncheon. The award, which comes with a $15,000 prize donated by the class of 1934, is the most prestigious honor for faculty members at Georgia Tech. Recipients are chosen for their scholarly achievements, teaching ability and contributions to the personal and professional development of Tech students.

"I am delighted, touched and feel very honored to receive this award because it is for my academic contributions in contrast to [previous] awards that I received for my work in industry and professional organizations," Tummala said.

Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough described Tummala as a "world class scholar who has brought national and international prominence to Georgia Tech." Clough also recalled that when Tummala came to Tech, he quickly developed a proposal with other faculty members to seek funding from the National Science Foundation for the PRC. The NSF approved the funding request, and in 1994 the PRC was established with Tummala as its director.

"The PRC under Tummala's strong and effective leadership is the star among such centers in the U.S. ... The center is responsible for 25 documented breakthroughs thus far," Clough said.

PRC researchers explore and develop new technologies for products ranging from modems and computers to camcorders and automotive devices. Tummala said it is the largest electronics packaging center in the world. Reflecting on the early days when the center was in the proposal stage, Tummala admitted to being surprised by the response he received from other faculty members who were interested in working on the project.

"I put the word out that I wanted to form the center, and to my amazement, 44 professors showed up to work with me. That would never have happened at MIT. You'd have to make call after call, but here, there's a strong culture for teamwork that makes projects like this successful," Tummala said.

That strong belief in teamwork is something Tummala instills in his students in the classroom. "I insist that they form teams on their assignments which is a little different from many others. Most universities teach you to work as individuals. I teach them how to work with others because that is what they will have to know when they leave here," Tummala said.

Tummala described his approach with his students as informal and open. However he believes in treating them like adults and challenging them to be independent thinkers and inventors. He stays in touch with many of his students who have graduated and said, "It makes me feel great when one of them calls for career advice-that they still look to me for help."

Doctoral electrical engineering student Prem Chahal has worked with Tummala for four years. He said the research that Tummala is spearheading at the PRC is the main reason he decided to enroll at Georgia Tech. "He's excellent for research and he brings a lot of expertise and up-to-date information from the corporate world to the program," Chahal said.

Tummala came to Tech after working for 25 years at IBM where he received 16 awards for inventing a number of major technologies for IBM's products for displaying, printing, magnetic storage and multichip packaging. Tummala has published more than 100 technical papers and holds 66 U.S. patents. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, a B.S. in physics, mathematics and chemistry from Andhra Loyola College in India, and a B.E. degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India.

Tummala left his homeland of India in 1966 when he moved to the U.S. to study. "I always wanted to live here as a child. We were always told that the best and brightest go to the U.S.," he laughed.

When asked if he missed the corporate world and the lifestyle he led as an IBM Fellow in upstate New York, Tummala did not hesitate in answering no. He said in addition to enjoying the students and his research work at Georgia Tech, he also likes the city of Atlanta and plans to retire here.


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