12 MOMENTUM • VIRGINIA TECH MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Ranga Pitchumani appointed editor-inchief of Solar Energy
Ranga Pitchumani , the George R . Goodson Professor in Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech , has been named the editor-in-chief of Solar Energy , the official journal of the International Solar Energy Society , published by Elsevier . Pitchumani ’ s selection follows an international search to lead the flagship journal in the field of solar energy .
Pitchumani has served in several leadership roles . Prior to joining the faculty of Virginia Tech , he was the head of the department of mechanical engineering at the University of Connecticut , during which time the department increased research expenditures by 69 percent and was the top graduate program among public universities in New England , according to U . S . News & World Report .
At Virginia Tech , he served as the associate department head for research in mechanical engineering from 2009 until 2013 , leading research expenditure growth of 25 percent to $ 19.1 million annually and securing fellowships from the U . S . Department of Education that enabled doctoral student enrollment growth of 35 percent .
An internationally recognized authority on energy , Pitchumani has served as the U . S . representative on the International Energy Agency ’ s SolarPACES executive committee and on the advisory board of the Australian Solar Thermal Research Initiative of ARENA , the Australian Renewable Energy Agency . In October 2020 , he was one of six invited panelists from across the world in the VAIBHAV Energy Summit convened by the Honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India .
From 2011 to 2015 , at the invitation of the then Energy Secretary Steven P . Chu , Pitchumani served as the chief scientist for the SunShot initiative , a grand challenge that he helped formulate at the U . S . Department of Energy . In his role , he defined bold national goals for achieving cost-competitive solar energy technologies and their