Shankar Chellam is a Professor and holder of the A.P. & Florence Wiley Professorship III in the Zachry Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering. Before joining Texas A&M University in August 2015, he spent 16 years at the University of Houston. His bachelor’s and master’s degrees are in mechanical engineering and chemistry, respectively, from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in India. He also holds master’s and Ph.D. degrees in environmental engineering from Rice University.
Shankar has seven years of “real-world” experience as a process engineer with J.K. Synthetics, India and as a research engineer with Montgomery Watson. His research interests broadly include advanced technologies for water purification and analysis of trace metals in airborne particulate matter. A recipient of a National Science Foundation early CAREER award, Shankar served as an elected member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors Foundation, the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors, and the North American Membrane Society.
On a personal level, Shankar is an avid heavy metal aficionado especially of NWOBHM, thrash, and progressive (death) metal and regularly attends concerts. He particularly enjoys the music of Accept, Anthrax, Megadeth, Ronnie James Dio, Motörhead, Iron Maiden, Blue Öyster Cult, Judas Priest, Opeth, Slayer, Saxon, Testament, Yngwie Malmsteen, Manowar, Black Sabbath, Dream Theater, Mayhem, Manilla Road, Deep Purple, Trivium, Tygers of Pan Tang, Metal Church, Vardis, Diamond Head, etc.