H-index 100: Suresh Garimella hits the century mark

In the world of heat and mass transfer, Purdue University is an acknowledged leader. Distinguished Professor Emeritus Suresh Garimella has reached a milestone that puts that influence into hard numbers: achieving an h-index of 100.


H-index measures a researcher’s number of publications, and the number of times those papers have been cited by other researchers. For example, if a researcher's h-index is 100, that person has at least 100 papers that have been cited at least 100 times each. Only 7,000 researchers in the world have achieved this milestone, and Garimella is among just a handful of Purdue-affiliated researchers who have been recognized with this honor.

Suresh Garimella was a faculty member in the School of Mechanical Engineering for 20 years, from 1999 to 2019. He founded the Cooling Technologies Research Center, which focuses on high-performance heat removal from compact spaces, such as semiconductors and microelectronics. One of his former students, Justin Weibel, now serves as the Center’s director.

“Nothing is more satisfying than to know that your work is being widely followed and is assisting in the development of new technologies and deeper understanding of physical phenomena,” said Garimella. “Fundamentally, it makes me deeply proud of the many graduate students and post-docs in our group who have contributed great work over the decades, and are now enjoying successful careers as leaders in industry and academia. I am also grateful for the support of a variety of federal agencies and the 45 or so companies that have funded our work consistently over several decades. I am proud to see Justin Weibel taking the Center to new heights.”

Now serving as President of the University of Vermont, Garimella still relishes the opportunity to conduct research. “I have always considered myself a faculty member first and an administrator second,” he said. “I continue to supervise a few PhD students, meeting with them regularly in Zoom calls and occasionally in person, and I must say it is among the most enjoyable and refreshing of my activities.  Each paper we work on and each patent that is issued for our discoveries continues to bring a thrill.”

Garimella is part of a long and distinguished history of excellence in heat transfer at Purdue University, dating back to 1935. Garimella helped to organize a reunion of these legends in 2003, featuring keynote speaker John Sununu.

“I feel deeply fortunate to have been a member of the renowned heat transfer group at Purdue for twenty years, continuing in the lineage of Frank Incropera, Dave DeWitt, Ray Viskanta, and others,” said Garimella. “This group has been at the forefront of this field for decades, and I am excited to see the next generation of colleagues maintaining and enhancing Purdue’s leadership in heat transfer.”

 

Source: Suresh Garimella, garimell@purdue.edu

Writer: Jared Pike, jaredpike@purdue.edu, 765-496-0374