Krishna Muralidharan named interim director of the Center for Semiconductor Manufacturing

We are pleased to announce Krishna Muralidharan as interim director of the Center for Semiconductor Manufacturing. Muralidharan was named to the role in February 2025. 

Muralidharan was a member of the inaugural cohort of CSM Fellows in 2024. His research focuses on developing comprehensive integrated computational materials engineering paradigms that include platforms for accelerating the discovery-to-deployment cycle of solid-state devices. He will continue serving as professor of materials science and engineering.

As interim director, Muralidharan oversees the goals of the center: 

• Sustain a state of the art R&D program that enables innovations across the semiconductor ecosystem, ranging from integration of new semiconductor materials, to targeted design of application-driven hardware architectures, to advanced fabrication and packaging paradigms.
• Create an agile, forward-looking education and workforce development program that closely aligns with the growing semiconductor workforce needs in Arizona and across the nation.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for U of A researchers to collaborate with federal agencies, industry partners and  external research labs.

He earned his PhD from The University of Arizona in 2004, and prior to joining the U of A as a faculty member, he worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of Florida.

Founding CSM Director Liesl Folks continues supporting CSM efforts, focusing on building educational opportunities and platforms for high school, community college and university students.

CSM looks forward to continuing to empower faculty, staff and students with cutting-edge education and research opportunities under the leadership of Dr. Muralidharan.