Dr. Behnam Pourdeyhimi joined NC State immediately after completing his PhD at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom in 1982. Soon, he left for other opportunities, Cornell (2 years), University of Maryland (11 years) and Georgia Tech (4 years) before returning to NC State in 1998-199 Academic year.
Behnam is the William A. Klopman Distinguished Professor of Materials in the Wilson College of Textiles at NC State University and is also an affiliated professor in the departments of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and the Biomedical Engineering. He also serves as Associate Dean in the Wilson College of Textiles and is the Executive Director of The Nonwovens Institute.
Early in his career, he focused on the development of tools for characterizing various materials including nonwovens, medical devices, composite materials, etc. For this body of work, he received the ASTM D-13 Dewitt Smith Medal. In particular, his work on image analysis won him the Fiber Society Distinguished Scientist award in 1994. He also was selected as the Fiber Society Lecturer where he travelled broadly to present his work to industry and academia. He later served also as the vice president, and the president of the Fiber Society.
He is best known for his contributions to nonwovens and establishment and the growth of nonwovens at NC State. His work in the area of filtration won him the O’ Max Gardner award in 2015 (The Highest award by the University of North Carolina System), and in 2018, he received The Holladay Medal for Excellence (The highest faculty award bestowed by NC State University). In 2020, Behnam was inducted into the National Academy of Inventors as a Fellow.
Pourdeyhimi has published over 500 research publications and 3 books, has presented over 250 conference presentations, holds 29 US patents and 65 international patents, and has founded or co-founded several spin-outs. His former students hold key positions in both academia and industry.
