Troy K. Townsend

Dr. Troy Townsend is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Materials Science at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. He is a dedicated teacher, researcher and inventor. After graduating with a PhD from the University of California, Davis in Inorganic Chemistry self-supported through a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, Dr. Townsend took a position at the US Naval Research Laboratory as a National Research Council postdoctoral fellow.

After this, he discovered his passion for teaching at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. There, he founded the Materials Science Program to provide students with the skills to address global challenges using emerging technologies in nanomedicine, electronic fabrication and applied novel materials. His externally funded research group of undergraduate students investigates printable nanomaterial electronics and applied functional thin films. Dr. Townsend’s investigation of ink-jet printed inorganic semiconducting nanomaterials for low-cost photovoltaics is described in his 2017 TEDx talk.

Dr. Townsend is the 2020 recipient of the Norton T. Dodge Award for Excellence in Scholarly and Creative Achievement from St. Mary’s College and the Maryland Outstanding Young Scientist Award from the Maryland Academy of Science. Dr. Townsend and his students continue to explore the deposition of novel composite materials including fluorescent metal coatings to address challenges faced by aircraft maintainers locating lost hand tools.