Dennis L. Polla received S.B. degrees in electrical engineering and physics, the S.M. degree in electrical engineering, and the electrical engineering (E.E.) degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge. He received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering and the M.B.A. degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He had held faculty positions at the University of California, Berkeley, and Yale University, New Haven, CT. He has been a faculty member at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, since 1987 and has held joint academic appointments in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology,, Department. of Biomedical Engineering as the Earl E. Bakken Endowed Chair, and Center for the Development of Technology Leadership as the W.R. Sweatt Chair in the Management of Technology. He has held a variety of administrative positions, including Director of the Microtechnology Laboratory, Director of the Biomedical Engineering Institute, and founding Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering. His current research is in nanobiotechnology and MEMS.
Dr. Polla is a former Presidential Young Investigator and a recipient of the W. M. Keck Outstanding Engineering Educator Award. Dr. Polla served as President and CEO of SurroMed Pte Ltd, Singapore. He is currently with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), where he serves as a program manager in the Microsystems Technology Office..