Mahendra Pakala

Mahendra Pakala is a seasoned professional in the field of materials science and engineering, currently serving as Managing Director of the Memory Group at Applied Materials since July 2012, after previously holding the position of Senior Director in the same group. Prior experience includes roles as Director of Engineering at Western Digital, where responsibilities encompassed wafer fab process development for HDD read heads and leading the development of materials for MgO Magnetic Tunnel Junction sensors. Other significant positions held include Director of Advanced Materials & Process at Grandis Inc., Senior Staff Engineer at WaveSplitter Tech, and Manager/Senior Staff Engineer at Read Rite Corp. Mahendra Pakala holds a Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering from the University of Cincinnati and a B. Tech in Metallurgy and Materials Science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.