Vijay Gupta is a Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles. He received a Bachelor of Technology degree (1985) in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay), and a M.S. in Civil Engineering (Structures) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1987. Subsequently, he transferred to the Mechanical Engineering Department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and obtained his Ph.D. degree in 1989. Dr. Gupta started his professional career at Dartmouth College as an Assistant Professor, and after only five years of finishing his Ph.D. at M.I.T, at age 31, he was offered a Full Professorship with tenure at UCLA in 1995. Vijay Gupta thus became one of the very few professors in the US to accomplish that spot without going through the usual rank of an associate professor.

Professor Gupta's research spans mechanical characterization of thin film interfaces, biomechanics, ice mechanics, and composite materials. His work combines both experimental approaches and computer simulation. He has published over 120 journal articles and books, and has made over 200 invited presentations at international conferences, governmental agencies, and companies world-wide. He has chaired numerous international symposia in his field, and has served as a consultant to several top blue chip companies, the United States Department of Defense, and national laboratories in the Europe, Japan and the US.

He holds a United States Patent on a laser spallation experiment for measuring the tensile strength of interfaces among multilayers such as those appearing in high performance electronic devices, paint, and turbine blades of aircraft engines. His technique can help semiconductor industry in manufacturing mechanically-reliable electronic devices and packages. Presently his technology has been transferred to Intel Corporation. His technology has been used for product development in companies worldwide, belonging not to one, but a number of different industries such as semiconductor (Intel Corporation, Hitachi, Dow Corning Corporation), automobile (Delco), television (LG Gould in Korea), biomedical (Pacesetter Inc., Baxter Corporation), aircraft engines (Pratt and Whitney, Westinghouse Corporation), paint (Du Pont), and Dentistry (improved Ti implants with highly adherent calcium-phosphate coating). Negotiations are underway for full transfer of the technology to a few companies.

Vijay Gupta has a rather wide range of interests. In the field of biomechanics, he is working with cardiologists, and orthopedic and dermatology surgeons, where he explores use of laser-generated ultrasound for treatment of arrhythmia, bone shaping, and fat cavitation (destruction).

He received the Outstanding Young Scientist and Engineer Award from the International Union of Materials Research Societies in Japan in 1993. More recently he was awarded the Theodore Tromovitch Award from the American College of Mohs Micrographic surgery, and the young investigator award from the American Academy of Mechanics. He appears in Who's Who in Asian Americans, and Who's Who in Science and Engineering. Dr. Gupta was awarded the Institute Silver Medal from the Indian Institute of Technology for the best scholastic performance in the Civil Engineering class of 1985, and in the same year he also received the prestigious J. N. Tata Fellowship for being one of the outstanding engineering graduates of India. He is a member of Sigma Xi, and the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society. He is a member of several professional societies, including ASME, the Materials Research Society, and the American Ceramics Society, among others.