Venkat Gundabala

Biography

B. Tech, Andhra University, 2000 M. S., Drexel University, USA, 2002 Ph. D., University of Sheffield, UK, 2006 Postdoctoral research associate, University of Cambridge, UK, 2007-2008 Postdoctoral fellow, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA 2008-2012

Research Interest

Microfluidic methods for synthesis for polymer-based nanomaterials: Microfluidics as a platform to synthesize nanomaterials is gaining prominence due to the precise control that can be achieved over fluid flows at small length scales. My interest in this area lies firstly in getting a fundamental understanding on the mechanisms of nanofiber generation and nanoparticle synthesis in microfluidic devices. The knowledge will be used to generate new fiber-based and particle-based materials for biomedical and alternative energy sources applications. High-throughput microfluidic tools for phenotyping C. elegans: Caenorhabditis elegans, a multicellular organism of the phylum nematode, is often used as a model organism for research in developmental biology. Studying these organisms using miniature devices in the scale of their sizes, i.e. microfluidic devices, has several advantages. In this area, I am interested in employing droplet-based microfluidics to enhance the throughput and improve on the versatility of the existing microfluidics based studies. Nano-composite materials as functional coatings: My vision in this area is to use both experimental techniques and theoretical modeling to investigate film formation of water-based nano-composite coatings. The understanding gained will help tune the properties of nano-composite materials in a way that can improve the functional properties of coatings. Project position opening: Currently, a project position for modeling the fluid flow inside a mcirofluidic device, is available.