Derek Austin, born in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, has always been "tuned-in" to the research activity taking place at ORNL. Derek received his B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering with highest honors from Clemson University in May of 1999. While at Clemson, his areas of focus were electronics and wireless digital communications. As the recipient of a 1999 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, Derek was able to pursue his graduate studies at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville (UTK) and conducted research at ORNL under the direction of Dr. Michael Simpson. He received his M.S. degree from UTK in December of 2001, with a thesis on electrical characterization of single-walled carbon nanotubes. Derek earned a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in May, 2005. He has recently accepted a position with Siemens Molecular Imaging in Knoxville, Tennessee.