Sayan Biswas (PhDAAE '17)

Purdue alumnus Sayan Biswas (PhDAAE ’17) had his Ph.D dissertation published as a book by Springer, a leading global research, educational and professional publisher.

Biswas worked to adapt his dissertation into a book format as part of receiving the Springer Thesis Award in October 2017. The dissertation was included in the “Springer Theses” series. Per Springer’s website, the series recognizes “outstanding Ph.D research” and calls the collection the “best of the best.”

Biswas's title is "Physics of Turbulent Jet Ignition: Mechanisms and Dynamics of Ultra-lean Combustion," which explores how to design a safe and reliable gas engine combustor operating at ultra-lean conditions for higher fuel economy and lesser pollutant emission. The dissertation was nominated by Dr. Thom Shih, J. William Uhrig and Anastasia Vournas Head and Professor of Purdue’s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Li Qiao, an associate professor in aeronautics and astronautics, was Biswas’s advisor.

“I was pleasantly surprised to receive the award as it was extremely competitive,” Biswas says. “Since I am interested in an academic career, I always wanted to write a book at a later stage of my career. This award gave me the opportunity much earlier. With research fields being so narrow these days, only a handful of people working in that field are aware of someone’s research. The book would help my research reach a bigger audience.”

Biswas says it was a challenge to convert his dissertation into a book format, but he thinks he ultimately was able to translate his research into an easily understandable language for the general public.

His research led to a 10 peer-reviewed journal articles, a patent filed with Purdue's Office of Technology Commercialization, and numerous conference publications. He also has presented the research in several public forums, calling them “70 miles per gallon” to emphasize the application of his research of fuel economy and pollution reduction.

Biswas is a postdoctoral researcher at Sandia National Laboratories in California where he’s working on developing low-temperature non-equilibrium plasma ignition system for automotive and gas engine applications. He’s also continuing part of his Purdue research (turbulent jet ignition) in an optically accessible research engine at Sandia. At Purdue, he had a prototype combustor that resembled an engine.

“Experimental techniques and laser diagnostics that I learned at Purdue, I use at Sandia on a daily basis,” Biswas says.

Biswas says there was a recent Purdue alumni gathering at Sandia in Albuquerque, N.M., that made him feel “Purdue is such a strong connecting link.”