Nagpal received his PhD from the University of Minnesota and served as a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Advanced Solar Photophysics at Los Alamos National Laboratory before joining the faculty in 2012. Nagpal’s research focuses on the development of novel materials systems and processes for development of functional nanomaterials. He has served as topical chair for the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ Annual Meetings and earned the NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award in 2014.