Vikas Berry

Vikas Berry (born 1977 in Pune, India) is an Indian-American chemical engineer and entrepreneur. He is a professor and head of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Illinois Chicago. His research focuses on the synthesis, chemical modification, scalable manufacturing and applications of two-dimensional materials such as graphene and graphene nanoribbons. He holds the Dr. Satish C. and Asha Saxena professorship at the University of Illinois Chicago, and previously held the William H. Honstead endowed professorship at 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 from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2006.

Research and Entrepreneurship

Berry’s research focuses on the synthesis, processing, and scalable manufacturing of graphene and other two-dimensional materials. He has developed methods for producing graphene quantum dots and graphene nanoribbons through structural transformation of graphite, a process referred to as Graphite Nanotomy. His work also includes direct chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of graphene on dielectric substrates, integration of boron nitride sheets with graphene to form heterostructures, and the development of graphene-based sensing and electronic platforms.

Berry co-founded Grapherry and serves as its Chief Executive Officer. The company has reported collaborations with battery manufacturers to evaluate graphene for anode materials. Berry is the Chief Executive Officer of Argo Graphene Solutions Corp that licensed the STREAM technology developed by Grapherry.