Meet The League

Post Doctoral Fellows

Rohit Chauhan

Post-Doctoral Research: Electrochemical CO2 capture and reduction & H2 production

Project Description:

CO2 capture with electrodialysis unit and its reduction into Ethylene in continuous manner
Capturing the CO2 directly from air with the help of ionic liquids
Production of H2 by water electrolysis, assisted by biochar

Awards:

2020 - Best paper presentation award in IOSCRT-2020 - Panjab University, Chandigarh, India.
2020 - Best paper presentation award in STWTD–2020 - NIT Calicut, India.
2021 - Best paper presentation award in BEST-2021 - Arunai Engineering College, Tamil Nadu, India.
Scholarship by the Indo-German Centre for Sustainability (IGCS).
International travel grant from SERB, Govt. of India.

Background:

PhD in Chemical Engineering, IIT Roorkee, Roorkee, India (2017-2021) (Thesis: Electrochemical Treatment of Wastewater Containing Nitrogenous Compounds)
JRF at IISER, Bhopal, India (2017)
M.Tech in Chemical Engineering, IIT Roorkee, Roorkee, India (2014-2016)
B.Tech in Chemical Engineering, Uttar Pradesh Technical University, Lucknow, India (2009-2013)

Vamsi Vikram Gande

Post-Doctoral Research: Decarbonization of Cement and CO2 reduction to Ethylene

Project Description:

Developing high-throughput testing strategies for process and concrete optimization
Developing a microreactor for Distributed Direct Air Capture with Rapid Mineral Carbonation (DDAC-REACT)
Mechanistic Understanding and model development for Calcium dissolution in Ammonium Chloride solution

Awards:

2021- Best paper presentation award in CHEMPLUS 2021- IIT Madras-India
2020- Best poster award in Indo-German Workshop -Max Planck Society-Germany
2015 - OUCT alumni scholarship award- Osmania University-India
2013-2016 Prime minister scholarship – Govt. of India

Background:

Application Engineer-Intern, Atonarp Microsystem Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru, India (2022)
PhD in Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India (2018 - 2022) (Thesis: Role of kinetics and transport processes in a sustainable process for recovering metals as value added products from e-waste)
M.Tech in Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India (2016 - 2018)
Apprentice Engineer, Technoforce Solutions Pvt Ltd, Nashik, India (2016)
B.Tech in Chemical Engineering, University College of Technology, Osmania University, Hyderabad, India (2012 - 2016)

Nitin Minocha

Post-Doctoral Research: High-Throughput (HT) Screening of CO2 Capture and Crystallization Enabled by Machine Learning

Project Description:

Deployment of Fully-Automated Continuous-Flow Microfluidic Device for High-throughput Screening of Crystallization
Development of electrochemical cell for efficient CO2 capture and utilization

Awards:

“Innovative PhD Thesis Award” by Homi Bhabha National Institute, 2019, Mumbai, India.
Winner of “Innovation Hackathon Challenge” at Whirlpool of India Limited, 2020, Pune, India
“Innovation Ambassador” for Q2 at Whirlpool of India Limited, 2022, Pune, India.
Awarded French Embassy in India Scholarship for pursuing Master (M2) Nuclear Engineering at University of Paris, France.
Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) fellowship for pursuing PhD at Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India.

Background:

Senior CAE Specialist, Whirlpool of India Ltd., Pune, India (Feb’ 2019-Oct’ 2022)
Post-Doctoral Fellow in Chemical Engineering, J B Joshi Research Foundation, Mumbai, India (Oct’2016 - Jan’2019)
PhD in Engineering, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India (Aug’2011 - Aug’2016) (Thesis title: Design and simulation of Passive Decay Heat Removal System for Advanced Heavy Water Reactor)
M.Tech in Nuclear Science & Technology, Delhi University, India (Aug’2008 - Aug’2011)
M2 Nuclear Engineering, CEA INSTN & University of Paris, France (Aug’2009 - Aug’2010)
B.Sc Physics, Delhi University, India (Aug’2005 - Aug’2008)

Ph.D. Students

Nishithan C. Kani

Ph.D. Thesis: Decarbonization of Ammonia Synthesis

Project Description:

Electrochemical synthesis of ammonia and urea: electrocatalyst synthesis and electrochemical cell development
Recovery of nitrates from wastewater and subsequent conversion to ammonia
Hydrogen generation from Biochar assisted water electrolysis

Awards:

2019 Best TA Award from Department of Chemical Engineering
2020 Award for Graduate Research
2021 3 Minute Thesis Competition (Honorable Mention)
2021 Provost’s Graduate Internship Award
2021 AIChE Sustainable Engineering Forum Student Paper Award.

Background:

M.S. in Chemical Engineering, IIT Madras, Chennai, India (2015 -2018)
B. Tech. in Chemical Engineering, AC Tech - Anna University, Chennai, India (2011 - 2015)

Rajan R. Bhawnani

Ph.D. Thesis: Automated High-Throughput Screening of Porous Crystalline Frameworks for Understanding Thermodynamic and Kinetics of Formation

Project Description:

Understanding the kinetics and underlying mechanism of polymerization of various metal- and covalent-organic frameworks (MOFs and COFs)
Designing novel techniques to fabricate MOF thin films on solid and porous substrates and deploy them for gas separation and electrocatalytic applications
Developing high-throughput screening platform for MOFs and High-Entropy materials (HE alloys and HE MOFs) – Synthesis and Characterization

Background:

Research Assistant, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), PA, USA (2017 - 2019)
M.S. in Chemical Engineering, Rutgers University, NJ, USA (2016 - 2018)
Process Engineer, Toyo Engineering, India (2014 - 2016)
B. E. in Chemical Engineering, TSEC, Mumbai University, India (2010 - 2014)

Prem K.R. Podupu

Ph.D. Thesis: Microkinetic and Multi-Scale Modeling for Synthesis and Analysis of Materials

Project Description:

Microkinetic Modeling for synthesis of Metal Organic Frameworks
Multi-Scale Modeling for understanding the mechanisms of antisolvent and oiling out crystallization

Background:

Project Associate, IIT Madras, India (2019 - 2020)
M.Tech. in Chemical Engineering, IIT Madras, Chennai, India (2017 - 2019)
B. Tech. in Chemical Engineering, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, India (2012 - 2016)

Rohan Sartape

Ph.D. Thesis: CO2 Capture and Utilization

Project Description:

Development of novel carbon capture technologies
Valorization of Methane to Methanol
Integrated technologies for CO2 capture to value added fuels

Background:

Data Scientist, STL Tech, Pune, India, 2019-2020
M. Tech. in Chemical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur, India, 2017-2019
B. Tech. in Chemical Engineering, NIT Rourkela, India, 2013-2017

Ayankola Ayansiji

Ph.D. Thesis: Magnetic Targeting for Site-Specific Drug Delivery (co-advised with Prof. Andreas Linninger)

Project Description:

Mathematical Modeling of Magnetophoresis
CFD Simulation of Cerebrospinal Fluid
Experimental Measurement of Magnetophoresis

Background:

B.S. in Chemical Engineering, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria- 2012

Ishita Goyal

Ph.D. Thesis: Decarbonization of C-N compounds

Project Description:

Electrochemical Synthesis of Urea: Electrocatalyst synthesis and electrochemical cell development
High-pressure ammonia synthesis: Electrochemical synthesis of Ammonia using Nitrogen at high pressure

Background:

B. Tech. (Honors) in Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Karnataka (NIT Surathkal), India (2018-2022)