Nikhilesh Chawla

Nikhilesh Chawla, the Ransburg Professor of Materials Engineering, has been named the inaugural associate dean for engineering at Purdue University in Indianapolis, effective July 29.

Chawla will be responsible for strategizing, prioritizing and coordinating all engineering programs at Purdue’s new capital city extension, which officially opened on July 1. He will join the team of David Umulis, senior vice provost Purdue University for Indianapolis.

“I had the distinct pleasure of working with Nik Chawla while he served as interim head of the School of Materials Engineering, and I was impressed by his leadership and support of faculty to be outstanding teachers and scholars,” Umulis said.

Chawla’s range of duties encompasses key areas, “from establishing research centers, to unique teaching experiences for our students and creating a culture of excellence that is an extension of West Lafayette, but that embodies the unique big-city opportunities of Indianapolis,” Chawla said.

Half of his time will be spent fulfilling the duties of his named professorship through leadership of his active research program in the area of X-ray imaging of materials.

Chawla’s group pioneered the area of 4D materials science. The three-dimensional structure of materials is characterized by non-destructive X-ray tomography. The fourth dimension — time — enables the study of material behavior as a function of an external stimulus (mechanical, thermal, electrical, etc.). The element of time is essential to understanding mechanisms such as plastic deformation, crack growth and corrosion. His team’s work on structural alloys, lead-free solder and polymeric and biological materials has led to a fundamental understanding of mechanisms behind key mechanical behaviors.

“I’m so excited to start this new role. Purdue in Indianapolis is like a university start-up where we have a clean slate to build something unique and impactful,” Chawla said. “We have amazing people here, and I’m eager to get to work to give our students unique experiences inside and outside the classroom. I also wish to grow our research portfolio and take advantage of linkages for research in Indy and the surrounding area.”

Recently, he was honored with the 2024 Innovation in Materials Characterization Award from the Materials Research Society. He is a Fellow of ASM International and recipient of the Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer Award (2022–2023), National Science Foundation Early Career Development Award and the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award. He served as editor for Materials Science and Engineering A for 11 years and also sits on the editorial boards of Materials Characterization and Materials Chemistry and Physics. In addition, he has board presences with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory and New Mexico Tech.

Prior to joining the Purdue College of Engineering in 2020, Chawla was the founding director of the Center for 4D Materials Science and Fulton Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Arizona State University.

“I’m excited to have him play an important role for the College of Engineering and the whole team in Indianapolis as we bring in new programs and broader research expertise,” Umulis said.