Vikas Berry

Vikas Berry (born 1977, Pune, India) is an Indian-American scientist, engineer, and academic. He is a professor and department head of chemical engineering at the University of Illinois Chicago. He conducts research and develops technologies in the areas of bionanotechnology and two-dimensional materials (such as graphene and graphene nanoribbons). He holds the Dr. Satish C. Saxena professorship at University of Illinois Chicago and held the William H. Honstead endowed professorship at the Kansas State University from 2011 to 2014.

Background and Education
Berry grew up in New Delhi, India and graduated from TAPS-Delhi in 1995. He received his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi in 1999. Then after working with Cadila Pharmaceuticals, he continued his education with a master's degree from the University of Kansas in 2003, and a doctorate degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2006 under the direction of Ravi Saraf.

Research
Berry has developed several bionanotechnologies, including COVID detector, cancer detectors, ALS sensors, microbial fuel cells, biocompatible papers, and DNA-transistors. He has also developed nano-devices such as ultrafast detectors, photodetector, sodium-ion batteries, 3D printing gels, Raman enhancer, IR-sensor, molecular machines, and graphene liquid cells for TEM. Berry has also contributed to 2D material science and technology, including nanotomy, 2D synthesis and growth, non-destructive graphene functionalization, boron nitride chemistries, gold nanostructures, microwave induced reduction and nanocrystallization, wrinkles in 2D nanomaterials, and 2D Composites

Berry's research has been featured in several national publications, including The Economist, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Engineer, Zee News, New Electronics, Nature, and other outlets. He has co-founded Waveshift, a company that develops solutions for virus surveillance and monitoring.