Thejesh N. Bandi is the Principal Investigator of the Precision Navigation, Time and Frequency (PNTF) group at the University of Alabama. His research interests span from basic atomic and ion spectroscopy to its novel implementation methods with the atomic clocks, and the related metrological studies. He is involved in the space clocks R & D for the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), time scales, precision frequency and time synchronization schemes and related applications. He has interests in compact lasers and laser manipulation of atoms and ions, including the trapping and manipulating schemes, interferometric studies and atomic magnetometers.

Dr. Bandi earned a PhD degree in Physics from the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland, and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at JPL-NASA/Caltech, Pasadena, CA, where he worked on compact mercury ion clock. He was the head of the clocks division at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), where he conceptualized, designed, and lead the successful research and development of the advanced indigenous space clock for the Indian navigation program. At ISRO, he also established a class 10k and 100k clean room laboratory for the space clocks development. Dr. Bandi joined the Department of Physics and Astronomy at The University of Alabama in 2022.