Principal Investigator
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Venkat Padmanabhan, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
Ph: +91 3222 283946
Email: venkatp @ che.iitkgp.ernet.in

Professional Experience
Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur 2012 - present
Lecturer/Research Associate, Texas Tech University 2011 - 2012
Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Delaware 2009 - 2011

Education

Ph.D. Columbia University, New York, NY 2009
M.Phil. Columbia University, New York, NY 2008
M.S. Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 2005
B.Tech. Osmania University, Hyderabad 2003

Awards
IIChE Amar-Dye Chem award for excellence in Research and Development 2015
Best Scientific Simulation Impact award, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) 2014
Howard P. Isermann Fellowship, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 2005
Best poster award, Measurement and Control Engineering Center (MCEC), Tulsa, OK 2004
Best paper award, Chemical Engineering Congress (CHEMCON), Hyderabad, India 2002

Graduate Students
lipika
Lipika Parida
PhD Candidate (2012 - present)

Thesis: Locomotion and Chemotaxis of C. elegans in complex media
kishore
Kishore Kumar Sriramoju
PhD Candidate (2013 - present)

Thesis: Self-assembly in polymer nanocomposites
sarbani
Sarbani Ghosh
PhD Candidate (2013 - present)

Thesis: Hydrogen storage in carbon-based materials
mohit
Mohit Garg
PhD Candidate (2013 - present)

Thesis: Morphology of model P3HT-PCBM composites
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Ramakrishna Arakala
MTech Candidate (2016 - present)

Thesis: Anti-Arrhenian behavior of polymer/clay suspensions

Undergraduate Students

  1. Sayantan Dutta

Group Alumni

Graduate Students
  1. Poonam Kumari (MTech, 2016), Thesis: Dynamics of polymers in thin film nanocomposites
  2. Nawaz Ahmed (BTech/MTech, 2015/16), Thesis: Molecular simulations of nanoparticle induced thermodynamic alterations in segmented polymers
  3. Uday Shankar (BTech/MTech, 2015/16), Thesis: Two-dimensional self assembly of polymer-grafted nanoparticles
  4. Tanuj Gupta (MTech, 2015), Thesis: Self-assembly in polymer nanocomposites, Current position: Plant Engineer, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.
  5. Shan Sahar (MTech, 2015), Thesis: Dynamics of polymer under confinement, Current position: Assistant Professor, TKM College of Engineering
  6. Narendra Karri (MTech, 2015), Thesis: Locomotion of the nematode C. elegans in complex environment
  7. Salman Shahid (BTech/MTech, 2014/15), Thesis: Effect of nanoparticles on structure and morphology in segmented polymer nanocomposites, Current position: Co Founder, RISE
  8. Jagannadh (BTech/MTech, 2014/15), Thesis: Effect of confinement on properties of polymer in thin films, Current position: Plant Engineer, Reliance Petroleum Pvt. Ltd.
  9. Vivek Nagal (BTech/MTech, 2014/15), Thesis: Density fluctuations in nanocomposites with semi-flexible polymers, Current position: PhD candidate at Johns Hopkins University
  10. Niti Agrawal (BTech/MTech, 2014/15), Thesis: Morphology of model P3HT-PCBM system for organic photovoltaics, Current position: PhD candidate at University of Maryland, College Park
  11. Mokkapati Akhil (BTech/MTech, 2014/15), Thesis: Effect of cooling rates on gelation in semiflexible polymers, Current position: HiTech Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
  12. Prashanth Prabhat (MTech, 2015) - Thesis: Entropy driven self assembly of nanoparticles
  13. Babji Palli (MTech, 2014), Thesis: Chain stiffness for tuning effect interactions between polymer-grafted nanoparticles in a homopolymers matrix, Current position: Plant Engineer, Haldia Petrochemicals Pvt. Ltd.
  14. Modini Yantrapati (MTech, 2014), Thesis: Diffusion of dyes in porous agar gels, Current position: Tata Consulting Engineers Ltd.

Undergraduate Students

  1. Ankit Agrawal (BTech, 2016)
  2. Vinod Kumar (BTech, 2016)
  3. B. Thanuja (BTech, 2016)
  4. Rishabh Sava (BTech, 2015)
  5. Gaurav Das (BTech, 2015)