Dr. Padmaja "Paddy" Guggilla serves as the Associate Dean for Student Success for the College of Engineering, Technology, and Physical Sciences, and is also the Chairperson of the Department of Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics, holding the position of a professor of Physics. Achieving her Ph.D. in Applied Physics in 2007, Dr. Guggilla’ s academic background is complemented by a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Dr. Guggilla has successfully secured over $20 million in funding as a PI/ Co-PI from various agencies such as NSF, DoE, DoD, and DHS. Since 2012, she has contributed her expertise as a panelist for NSF, DHS, DoD-NDSEG/SMART, and AFRL. Dr. Guggilla has been invited to deliver technical talks at prestigious international conferences and serve as a peer reviewer for reputable journals. Her research interests include pyroelectric materials, infrared sensors, renewable energy, energy harvesting, condensed matter physics, crystal growth, thin film and thick film technology, composite films, photovoltaic devices, and nanotechnology. She has published over 75 papers including two book chapters. Dr. Guggilla is currently a member of the Department of Energy (DoE) Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (BESAC) since April 2022. Additionally, she has been recognized as a Fellow of the Center for the Advancement of STEM Leadership.  Dr. Guggilla is currently a member of the Department of Energy (DoE) Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (BESAC) from April 2022 to December 2023. Additionally, she has been recognized as a Fellow of the Center for the Advancement of STEM Leadership (CASL) for the academic year 2021-2022, and she was part of the Fearless Leadership Program (FLP) from 2019 to 2020.  In recognition of her outstanding contributions, Dr. Guggilla was featured in the Diverse Issues in Higher Education Magazine as "2018 Emerging Scholar in the USA". Dr. Guggilla also received numerous awards within Alabama A&M University including the "Professor of the Year- 2016-2017" the highest academic award from AAMU.