Thomas Kodenkandath, Ph.D.,
Senior Scientist

Dr. Thomas Kodenkandath joined ITN in 2007 with extensive experience in the development of functional materials and innovative processing methods for enabling materials and thin film technologies. His expertise is in the formulation, processing and optimization of composition-microstructure-properties of advanced materials for diverse applications. At ITN spinoff Ascent Solar, in addition to the process development of monolithically integrated thin film solar cells, his research led to the discovery of an unprecedented Cd-free buffer layer material for CIGS-PV applications. Prior to ITN, Dr. Kodenkandath spent 7 years at American Superconductor Corp., where he was an integral part of the team that developed, matured and launched the second generation (2G) high temperature superconductor (HTS) technology to the market. His invention of a unique chemistry and low-cost processing method revolutionized the R2R manufacture of the 2G-HTS with record performance. He successfully managed DARPA, AFRL and DoE funded projects and developed several key HTS technologies including inkjet printing of micro-stranded HTS filaments. At Advanced Materials Research Institute, Dr. Kodenkandath pioneered an original methodology for the synthesis of the rationally designed materials with predictable composition, structure and properties. He was a fellow at Imperial College, London and is the recipient of the UNESCO Award for Promising Young Scientists. He earned his Ph.D. in Materials Chemistry from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. Dr. Kodenkandath is a prolific inventor with 8 granted patents and 6 pending applications. He has authored over 75 research papers and has served as the reviewer for National Science Foundation (NSF), J. Materials Research and J. of Electronic Materials. He is relentless in pursuit of excellence in science driven innovation & technology and loves to think “outside the box” for practical solutions.