W. Jud Ready

Bio

Dr. W. Jud Ready is the Associate Director, External Engagements for the Georgia Tech Institute for Matter and Systems. He has also been an Adjunct Professor in the School of Materials Science & Engineering at Georgia Tech and a Principal Research Engineer on the research faculty of Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) for over twenty years. Prior to joining the Georgia Tech faculty, he worked for General Dynamics, as well as MicroCoating Technologies. He has served as PI or co-PI for grants totaling >$22M awarded by the Army, Navy, Air Force, DARPA, NASA, NSF, NIST, DOE, industry, charitable foundations, private citizens, and the States of Georgia and Florida. With an emphasis towards aerospace applications, his current research focuses primarily on energy capture, storage and delivery enabled by nanomaterial design. His research has been included on three missions to the International Space Station (NREP-1, MISSE-11, MISSE-12), two others to low earth orbit (ALICE, TARGIT), and one currently in heliocentric orbit (Lunar Flashlight). Dr. Ready has >2,200 citations to his three dozen refereed publications on electronic and nanoscale materials, and his research developments have been invited to well-over two dozen international conferences. He has served as an expert witness in criminal and civil matters, and he has provided testimony to the Georgia State House Science & Technology Committee. He has fifteen patents awarded in the United States, with many others pending. Dr. Ready has been involved in numerous peer review activities for archival journals, scholarships and federal agencies, and continues to be a frequent session organizer for national and international symposia/conferences, including serving as Chair of the Materials Research Society (MRS) Spring 2017 Meeting.

Honors & Awards

Dr. Ready is a recipient of the “Outstanding Achievement in Research Program Development” award by Georgia Tech in 2023, and GTRI’s highest honor, the “One GTRI Collaboration Award” in 2022. In 2014, Dr. Ready was the thesis advisor for Georgia Tech’s “Best PhD Thesis” (Graham Sanborn) selected by Sigma Xi. Dr. Ready is also the recipient of: “Innovative Research Award” by GTRI in 2013; “Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Award” by Georgia Institute of Technology (2009); “Young Leader International Scholar Award” by Japan Institute of Metals (2005); and “Red Flag Award” by Georgia Department of Natural Resources (2001). Dr. Ready is a Senior Member of IEEE and a Life Member of The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS). TMS named Dr. Ready as a 2002 “Young Leader” and was elected to the TMS Board of Directors in 2005 (Membership & Student Development) and 2010 (Content Development & Dissemination). In 2015, he was named as a “Brimacombe Medalist” by TMS for sustained excellence and achievement in business, technology, education, public policy, and science related to materials science and engineering. Dr. Ready most recently served as the TMS President in 2022.

Dr. Ready is also a helicopter pilot with fixed wing instrument rating as well. He served as the founding Board Chairman for the non-profit /501(c)(3) Yellow Jacket Flying Club, Inc. from 2010 to 2017. He has also served on the Georgia Tech Faculty Assembly and Executive Board, as well as Trustee for the Georgia Tech Athletic Association and the Georgia Tech Alumni Association.