Thyaga Nandagopal

Division Director, Division of Innovation and Technology Ecosystems at National Science Foundation

Dr. Thyaga Nandagopal is the Division Director of the Division of Innovation and Technology Ecosystems in the Directorate of Technology, Innovation and Partnerships at the National Science Foundation. He serves as the co-chair of the Wireless Spectrum Research and Development Interagency Working Group (WSRD IWG), which co-ordinates spectrum-related research and development activities across the Federal government. Dr. Nandagopal is also a co-chair of the NSF-wide Quantum Leap Steering Committee, that coordinates NSF investments in inter-disciplinary research in quantum computing, communications and sensing. Prior to his current role, he was the Deputy Division Director of the Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF) Division in the Directorate of Computer & Information Science and Engineering (CISE) at the NSF, where he oversaw the division's investments in the theory and foundations of computing systems and communications technologies, with an annual budget of nearly $200M. His current interests are in research policy, partnerships, quantum computing, artificial intelligence and advanced wireless networks (beyond 5G). He has brought in over $150M from external partners into NSF-funded research programs. He previously served as a Program Director at the NSF in the Networking Technologies and Systems (NeTS) program, where he managed mobile systems and wireless networking research across multiple funding programs with an annual budget of over $50M. At NSF, he started the Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research program, a $100M effort over the 2017 - 2024 timeframe involving 30+ industry partners. He is an IEEE Fellow, and holds a Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.