Ten engineering grad students named Presidential Fellows

Several Buckeye engineers have earned the highest honor given by The Ohio State University Graduate School—a Presidential Fellowship.

This award recognizes the outstanding scholarly accomplishments and potential of graduate students entering the final phase of their dissertation research or terminal degree project. Awarded competitively, Presidential Fellowships provide one year of full-time financial support so students can complete their dissertations or terminal degree projects unimpeded by other duties. 

The College of Engineering’s 2021-2022 Presidential Fellows are Deb Banerjee, Suryapratim Chakrabarti, Junao Cheng, Gonzalo Constante Flores, Julio De Lima Nicolini, Başar Özbilen, Ana Salazar Puerta, Shirley (Nina) Tang, Simin Zhang and Menglin Zhu.

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Deb Banerjee is a PhD candidate in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, advised by Professor Ahmet Selamet. His research involves analyzing the turbocharger compressor flow field using laser diagnostics and computational fluid dynamics in order to develop a fundamental understanding of the instabilities encountered by the turbocharger, like stall and surge. The knowledge gained from this research will help mitigate these instabilities, resulting in more efficient and environment-friendly powertrains.

Surya Chakrabarti is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Advised by Professor Datta Gaitonde, Chakrabarti’s research focuses on using high fidelity numerical simulations of supersonic turbulent jets, to understand the underlying fluid dynamics that are related to the intense noise generated from such jets. This research allows for the creation of efficient jet noise prediction tools that could be instrumental in iterative design strategies, resulting in quieter jets in military aviation. 

Junao Cheng is a PhD candidate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the solid-state electronics area, advised by Professor Wu Lu. His dissertation research involves development of high-performance millimeter-wave field effect transistors that can improve the device performance including output current, breakdown voltage, and RF output power. The research performed would be applied to next-generation wireless communications.

Gonzalo Constante Flores is a PhD candidate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Advised by Professor Antonio Conejo, his research focuses on the development and improvement of operation tools for electric energy systems. In particular, his dissertation addresses the central problems induced by uncertain renewable generation and the interdependence with other critical infrastructures, like natural-gas systems, in the daily operation of power systems.

Julio de Lima Nicolini is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the ElectroScience Laboratory. Advised by Professor Fernando Teixeira, his research focuses on the study and development of reduced-order models for electromagnetic computational simulations. Such simulations are of vital importance for the study of complicated electromagnetic phenomena and the design of new electronic components, but they suffer from long runtimes and very high computational costs. Reduced-order models are a means to cut runtime and costs while maintaining specific accuracy levels, which increase the applicability of computational simulations to a wider variety of situations.

Başar Özbilen is a city and regional planning PhD candidate, advised by Professor Gulsah Akar and Associate Professor Maria Manta Conroy. Özbilen’s research interests cover travel behavior, sustainable development, public health, transportation equity, and age-friendly communities. The primary purpose of his dissertation research is to identify relevant sustainable planning strategies that will lower environmental impact, foster social equity, and promote positive health outcomes.

Ana Salazar Puerta is a PhD candidate in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, advised by Professor Natalia Higuita-Castro. She is working on developing cutting-edge treatments based on novel engineered extracellular vesicle-based nanotherapeutics for gene delivery and cell reprogramming. Her research is focused on inducing tissue conversions through genetic manipulations and reverting cellular states in several conditions including pulmonary inflammation, calcific aortic stenosis, neurofibromatosis, and low back pain.

Nina Tang is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Advised by Assistant Professor Devina Purmessur, Tang’s research focuses on developing novel minimally invasive therapies for patients suffering from chronic low back pain. She conducts her research via engineering nanocarriers (extracellular vesicles) to deliver critical developmental transcription factors into diseased human intervertebral disc cells and revert/reprogram them to a healthy state. 

Simin Zhang is a materials science and engineering PhD candidate. His research aims to study the femtosecond laser-induced damage and ablation process in dielectric materials in general, and multilayer interference coatings for high power laser optics made with dielectrics in particular. This study will facilitate the development of next-generation high-intensity laser technologies, such as X-ray free electron lasers, laser-based electron accelerators, and neutron generators. His advisor is Professor Enam Chowdhury.

Menglin Zhu is a PhD candidate in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. His research focuses on the structural origin of emergent phenomena at semiconductor interfaces using scanning transmission electron microcopy, such as thermal interface resistance and novel magnetic interfaces for spintronic applications. His advisor is Associate Professor Jinwoo Hwang.

by Meggie Biss, College of Engineering Communications | biss.11@osu.edu