Our People

Principal Investigator

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

Visiting Scholars

Projects: Correlation of directional solidification conditions and corrosion behaviors in Mg-Si and Mg-Si-Zn alloys

Guilherme is from Sao Paulo, Brazil. He completed a bachelor's in materials engineering and a master's in material science and engineering at the Federal University of Sao Carlos, Brazil. Nowadays, in the Ph.D. project at the Federal University of Sao Carlos, he studies Mg-Si alloys, aiming to verify different Si contents and modification with Zn as absorbable alloys for biomedical devices.
ORCID Research Gate

Postdocs

Eshan Ganju
Post Doc Research Assistant
Projects: Digital image correlation (DIC); digital volume correlation (DVC); X-ray computed tomography (XCT); X-ray diffraction contrast tomography (DCT); Machine learning assisted segmentation; Multiscale behavior of granular materials.

Eshan is originally from India and has a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Purdue University. For his doctoral work, Eshan carried out interdisciplinary research on the multiscale behavior of particulate matter undergoing penetrative processes using Digital Image Correlation analysis and X-ray Computed Tomography. Eshan is passionate about interdisciplinary research and teaching, and in his free time, he enjoys reading, hiking, and playing the guitar.
Personal Website
Venkata Sai Siva Kaushik Yanamandra
Post Doctoral Research Associate

Graduate Students

Min Cho
Cmse 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.
Rahul Franklin
Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship Admin
Projects: Characterization of the hexagonal cellular structure of natural honeycomb; Correlative tomography

Rahul Franklin comes from Fort Kochi, a small town in southern India. He completed his bachelor's in metallurgical engineering at the College of Engineering, Pune and later a masters in materials science and engineering from Arizona State University.
LinkedIn Google Scholar
Tai-Jan (Ted) Huang
Graduate Research Assistant
Projects: Scale-Dependent Studies of Meteorite Strength and Fragmentation; Stress corrosion cracking of Al and Mg alloys

Ted is from Taipei, Taiwan and received his BS and MS in materials science from National Tsing Hua University. He joined Chawla Research Group in 2019. He loves cats and drinks too much coffee.
LinkedIn
Ankit Kumar
Graduate Research Assistant
Projects: Structure and mechanics of natural oxide layers in structural aluminum, characterization of porous titanium

Ankit is from Bihar, India. He graduated with a Bachelor's in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee in 2020 and joined Chawla Research Group in Fall 2021. He enjoys watching movies, travelling, and exploring new places.
Amey Luktuke
Graduate Research Assistant
Projects: Effect of grain boundary misorientation on the electromigration-induced grain boundary grooving in Cu interconnects; Effect of Indium addition on the microstructural and mechanical properties of Sn-rich solders

Amey is from Maharashtra, India. He completed his bachelor in the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, and joined Chawla Research group as a PhD student in Fall 2018. In his free time, he likes to sing and listen to music.
LinkedIn
Swapnil Morankar
Graduate Research Assistant
Projects: Characterization and quantification of structures and mechanical behaviors of natural cellular materials

Swapnil received his B.Tech and M.Tech in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, India, developing Niobium Silicide composites for high temperature applications. He's interned at Warwick Manufacturing Group, UK to quantify porosity and particle size distribution in Al-Cu-TiB2 composites. He joined Chawla Research Group in Fall 2019. Outside of research, he enjoys playing and watching Cricket and cooking.
Google Scholar
Project: Quantification of corrosion in AA7075; Stress-corrosion cracking of Al and Mg alloys; Analysis of microstructure, corrosion, and reliability in Reactive Additive Manufactured Al alloys

Daniel grew up in Phoenix, Arizona and graduated from Arizona State University in 2020. He committed an entire box to board games when he moved to Indiana.
LinkedIn
John Wu
Graduate Research Assistant
Projects: Microstructural evolution and mechanical properties in Pb-free SAC solders

John grew up in Chungli, Taoyuan, Taiwan and received his B.S. from National Central University and M.S. from National Chiao Tung University. He's now pursuing his PhD in Materials Engineering at Purdue. He enjoys playing the guitar, spending time on the Switch, swimming, chucking a Frisbee and keeping an eye on ice cream sales.