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= Dr. Mahiradhwaj Singh =

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF SINGH
Since 1985, Dr. Mahiradhwaj Singh has been a senior professor at the University of Western Ontario (UWO)- one of Canada's oldest and most prestigious universities. He was the Director of the Centre of Chemical Physics at UWO, as well as, served as the Director of the Theoretical Physics Program for several years there.

Dr. Singh was born in 1949 in a remote village BHAMAI, Hamirpur in Bundelkhand, U.P., India. The village was quite underdeveloped with no roads, electricity, or a drinking water system. There was a primary school that went up to grade 5 where Dr. Singh attended in Bhamai. His parents were struggling farmers and did not have the financial ability to support his higher education. His father simply wished for him to become a farmer and to settle down. However, Dr. Singh, had different ambitions for his life and revolted against his father’s wishes and continued with higher education. He walked to a Junior high school located approximately 5 km away in another village named Sisolar. Similarly, afterwards he walked to a National Intermediate College located about 10 km in a town called Maudaha. He was the top student in Junior High School, High School and Intermediate College.

Dr. Singh's English teacher in high school was named Mr. Ram Niranjan Singh. This teacher was extremely impressed by Dr. Singh's achievements and encouraged him to continue his education after high school. He knew that Dr. Singh did not have financial support for higher education but told him that he would help him. Dr. Singh followed the advice of Mr. Ram Niranjan Singh. His teacher introduced him to the principal of T.D. College, Jaipur. Since Dr. Singh was the top of his class in Intermediate School, the principal awarded him a full scholarship, waiving his tuition fees and provided free accommodation in a hostel. Dr. Singh received the highest grades in his B.Sc. degree throughout the entire T.D. College campus, including all faculties. Afterwards, he completed his MSc. (1970) and Ph.D. degree (1976) in Physics from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. He was receiving national scholarships during his university education, which was enough money to support him and his education.

For approximately two years (1975-1977) Dr. Singh looked for jobs in universities and research institutions without much success. Then, in 1977, he was awarded one of the most distinguished German fellowship awards in the world. The awards name was the Alexander von Humboldt (AvH) Fellowship. Dr. Singh then decided to leave India and move to Germany in 1978. He worked with famous scientists and professors at Stuttgart University and Max Plank Institutes. He was able to also meet the president of Germany, Mr. Carl Carstens in 1979 in Bonn in the capacity of the AvH fellow.

Between 1980 and 1984, he was a scientist and lecturer at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. He worked with Professor P.R. Wallace, who discovered graphene. Graphene is a material that is a thousand times stronger than steel and can be used to make cars and aeroplanes. Dr. Singh and Prof. Wallace published around 20 papers on graphene-related materials. In 2010, the Nobel prize in Physics was awarded for graphene research. From 1982 to 1983, Dr. Singh worked in INSA, Toulouse, France as a scientist, where he published several papers with French, Polish and Russian scientists on narrow-gap semiconductors. These materials are used for fabricating lasers. In 1985, he worked as a scientist at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA.

Dr. Singh returned to Canada and joined the University of Western Ontario as a professor in 1985. After which he was a visiting professor at the University of Houston, the USA, in 1992. Subsequently, he was offered a very prestigious position as a Chief Researcher at CRL HITACHI, Tokyo, in 1993. As Chief Researcher, he held one of Hitachi's most respected and valued positions. During this time, he worked with several Japanese scientists on high-temperature superconducting devices.

Dr. Singh was awarded the Royal Society Fellowship in 1993 and worked at the University of Oxford in the U.K., as a Royal Society Scientist and visiting professor. Later on, in 2013, he was a visiting Professor at the Holon Research Institute, Israel. Afterwards in 2019, Dr. Singh was invited as visiting professor and scientist at Ioffe Institute, Saint Petersburg, and Nuclear Research Institute in Dubna, Russia. He was also a visiting scientist in several other countries around the world, such as Spain, Italy, Sweden, Netherland, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungry, China, Nepal, India, Egypt, Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico.

Furthermore, Dr. Singh has organized several international conferences throughout his career, along with many Nobel Laureate lectures (such as Sir A. Leggett, K. von Klitzing and A. Yonath). He has been invited as a public plenary and an invited speaker in countless international conferences, universities, research institutions globally.

In his career, Dr. Singh has networked and collaborated with several Nobel Laureates, such as Dr. Leo Esaki and Dr. K. von Klitzing. In addition, he has worked in various research areas of science, engineering and medicine. Some examples include nanoscience, nanotechnology, nanophotonics, plasmonics, optoelectronics, photonic crystals, metamaterials, semiconductor nanostructures, high-temperature superconductors, positron annihilation, Josephson junctions, many body theories, condensed matter physics, semiconductor devices, thermal transport, DNA molecules, and DNA wires.

Dr. Singh has published approximately 500 papers in high-impact international journals and has had theoretical and experimental collaborations with scientists from all over the world. He has also written more than ten academic books throughout his career. He is an expert in the area of nanoscience, nanotechnology and nanomedicine in the world.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF RESEARCH IN NANOSCIENCE, NANOTECHNOLOGY AND NANOMEDICINE
Recently, Dr. Singh has been working on the light-matter interaction in nanohybrids made of metallic nanoparticles (gold, silver), artificial atoms (quantum emitters), and graphene. Using various combinations of these nanostructures can create enormous hybrid nanostructures and nano-optics. Graphene is a two-dimensional nanostructure made from carbon atoms and behaves either as a metal or a semiconductor. They have free electrons on their surfaces, and their collective oscillations are called surface plasmons. Surface plasmons control light scattering in metallic nanostructures, and hence, this research is known as plasmonics. Examples of quantum emitters are quantum dots, and chemical and biological dyes. They have bound electron-hole pairs which are called excitons. Excitons can manipulate electronic and optical properties in quantum emitters.

Examples of photonic nanostructures are photonic crystals and metamaterials. Two or more dielectric materials fabricate photonic crystals with varying refractive indices. However, metamaterials are manufactured by periodically arranged metallic nanorods and nanoholes. They have unique electromagnetic properties which are not found in nature. For example, metamaterials possess a negative refractive index. Both have photonic and plasmonic band gaps and act as metallic and photonic nanostructures. Using various combinations of these nanostructures can create enormous numbers of hybrid nanostructures.

These hybrids are an ideal platform for fundamental and applied research for light-matter interactions. They can also be doped in biological cells and photonic nanomaterials such as photonic crystals. These nanomaterials can be used to make solar cell and energy storage devices in various energy ranges. These nanomaterials can be used in nanomedicine for the detection and treatment of cancer, Alzheimer, heart attack etc. We know that the traditional semiconductor industry is rapidly approaching its technological limits. Therefore, these nanomaterials can be useful to fabricate new types of small and ultra-fast switching and sensing nanodevices.

Dr. Singh's research will enhance our fundamental understanding of light-matter interaction in nanomaterials and contribute to the development of nanotechnology and nanomedicine. He believes that this century belongs to research based on nanoscience, nanotechnology, and nanomedicine.

ABOUT FULLBRIGHT
Fulbright is educational exchange program created in 1946 to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries through the medium of educational and cultural exchange. More than sixty years later, the Fulbright Program has come to represent the gold standard in academic exchange and is frequently used as a measure of academic excellence, intellectual integrity, and social diversity. Fulbright Canada is committed to nurturing and directing the power of human knowledge, and to supporting future leaders who can and will contribute directly to solving the most pressing issues and questions of our time.

FULLBRIGHT US-CANADA RESEARCH CHAIR AWARD TO SINGH
Professor Mahiradhwaj Singh residing in Canada has been awarded the Fulbright US-Canada Research Chair for 2021-2022. It is one of the most prestigious scientific awards presented internationally. This award has been endorsed by the Fulbright US-Canada Adjudication Committee, the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, as well as the Academic Committee of the Board of Directors of Fulbright US-Canada.

Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, is a prominent university in the USA and has kindly invited Dr. Singh as a Fulbright US-Canada Research Chair.

As a Fulbright grantee, Dr. Singh is in excellent company. Fulbright alumni have become heads of state, judges, ambassadors, cabinet ministers, CEOs, university presidents, journalists, artists, professors, and teachers. They have received 54 Nobel Prizes and countless other awards. Since its inception in 1946, many 'Fulbrighters' from over 160 countries have participated in the notable program.

Developing international understanding requires a commitment on the part of Fulbright grantees to establish open communication and long-term cooperative relationships. Fulbrighters enrich the educational, political, economic, social, and cultural lives in countries around the world.

Dr Singh will become involved in the community while on his Fulbright exchange. In so doing, he will demonstrate the qualities of service and leadership that have been the hallmarks of this program.

As a representative of Canada, Dr, Singh will help fulfill the principal purpose of the Canada-U.S.A. Fulbright Program, which is to increase mutual understanding between the people of Canada and the United States.

In December 2021, Dr. Singh was graciously invited by the U.S. Ambassador Susan Crystal to visit her residence in Canada to honour the award holders. Several dignitaries from the Canadian and Ontario governments and the director of Fulbright US-Canada Foundation were also invited. The following photographs were taken from that evening.