Biography

I am a second year PhD student at UCSD & SDSU in MAE department. I belong from India and did my bachelors in Civil Engineering at IIT Madras. I love hiking, trying out new food, working on cars and solving complex engineering problems. When I am not in my lab, I am home working on something or the other, currently I am working on a keyboard with in-key display.

Academic Information

Status: PhD Student

Year in Program: 2nd

Major/Specialty: My major is mechanical engineering and my speciality is in numerical methods for heat transfer and computational fluid dynamics.

Degrees: Degree in progress: Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Institute: University of California, San Diego & San Diego State University Year: 2024-2029 Degree earned: Bachelors of Technology in Civil Engineering. Institute: Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT Madras) Year: 2020-2024

Research Areas

Engineering

Research Interests

My research interest is in numerical simulation of phase change processes in flows with high density differences. I am working on developing a physics based enthalpy method using a level-set framework to simulate metal phase change processes (melting, solidification, condensation, boiling). My research aims to improve the accuracy of modeling the complex processes and defects that occur during additive manufacturing.

Topical Areas

Fluid and Plasma Physics; Mechanical Engineering

Relevant Coursework

I have taken advanced graduate level courses on numerical methods, differential equations, computational fluid dynamics and advanced fluid mechanics courses. I am currently taking heat transfer courses particularly focusing on conduction in solids.

Publications & Research Projects

I have been working on phase change in metals at SDSU since fall 2024 at the CFD lab under Dr. Bhalla. Before joining Dr. Bhalla's lab I worked on thermal management of EV powertrains and fluid flow simulations in Metal-Air battery packs.

Faculty Mentor

Amneet Pal Bhalla