Balu Balachandran  Balu Balachandran is a Distinguished Fellow and the Group Leader for the Ceramics and Covetic Materials group in the Applied Materials Division at Argonne National Laboratory, Chicago, USA. He received his Bachelor of Engineering (BE) degree in Metallurgical Engineering in 1975 from National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, a premier technical university in India. He received his Master of Science (MS) in Metallurgical Engineering from Indian Institute of Science and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Materials Science and Engineering in 1980 from OGI School of Science and Engineering, Oregon, USA. Balachandran received many awards and recognition: