Our People

Principal Investigator

Nikhilesh Chawla
Ransburg Professor Of Materials Engineering
nikc@purdue.edu
ARMS 2313

Graduate Students

Nicole Balog
Graduate Research Assistant
Projects: Characterization of structures and mechanical response in natural honeycomb

Nicole is from Northern Virginia and first came to Purdue for her Bachelors in Materials Engineering before staying for graduate school, joining the Chawla research group in January 2024. She spends her free time baking, cross-stitching, and attending Purdue sporting events.
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Min Cho
Csme Traineeship Fellowship
Projects: Adhesive film attachment in electronic packaging

Min Woo is from Washington, Seattle and earned his B.S. in Bioresource Science and Engineering and M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering at University of Washington, Seattle. During his masters, he worked on micro-polymer characterization using Raman Spectroscopy to determine degradation of polymers in water. He enjoys playing the piano, coffee, and traveling in his free time.
Satyaroop Patnaik
Graduate Research Assistant
Projects: Correlative microscopy of microstructure and recycling effects in high-performance aluminum

Satyaroop is from Bhubaneswar in Odisha, India. He graduated with both a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering from the National Institute of Technology Rourkela and joined Chawla Research Group in Spring 2023. He's a metalhead who enjoys cooking recipes from new cuisines and cycling.
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Google Scholar
Sidhaant Vasudeva
Graduate Research Assistant
Projects: High resolution imaging of defects in semiconductors: Detection, Reliability, and Mitigation

Sidhaant is from Delhi, India and did his Bachelors in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, and joined the Chawla Research group in Fall 2024. He likes gaming on his PC, going to the gym, and running for fun.
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Project: Fatigue of shot peened welds in steel bridge structures

Chezhian is from Chennai, India. He studied manufacturing engineering at Anna University and joined Chawla Research Group in Fall 2023. He's a fan of DC comics, Manchester City FC and Chennai Super Kings cricket.
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Undergraduate Students

Dhruv Patel
Research Lab- Student Service
Projects: Tomography characterization of armadillo shells for biomimetic design

Dhruv is a junior in the School of Materials Engineering from Burns, TN. He enjoys swimming, basketball, comedy movies, and long drives
Projects: Characterization of the pneumatic compression of polymeric foams using tomography

Pranav is from Ellicott City, Maryland. He is currently a junior in Materials Engineering and joined the CRG in Spring 2024. Outside of research, he enjoys running, watching football and soccer, and supporting Purdue Athletics.