The alumni of Department of Mechanical Engineering, Amrita School of Engineering, Amritapuri, Patiballa Sreekalyan, 2009-2013 batch, has come up with a new award winning conceptual model of materials. He, with his team, is working on a project to turn a complex materials design problem into an intuitive concept, understandable to engineers from novice to advanced experience levels. Sreekalyan is currently pursuing his Doctorate at the University of Illinois, on this project.

He, along with his team, presented the research at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference in Cleveland, Ohio, where they received the Freudenstein Young Investigator Award for their paper. The paper deals with mathematical equations and conceptual diagrams, which quantitatively analyze auxetic materials by emphasizing their macro- and microscale geometry. This research marks the first time that this type of conceptual model has been used to describe auxetic materials. Pure geometric methods were used because they can be easily understood by many, from high school students to designers and the manufacturing professionals who produce the materials.

“Many engineers shy away from working with auxetic materials because of the perceived difficulty. Our goal is to have a part in reversing that trend”, shared Sreekalyan.

“Kalyan was one of our best students here, and one of my favorites. He always wanted to do material science and I am glad that he has made his mark in the field. Congrats to Kalyan and may Amma’s grace take him to ever greater heights”, said Dr. Balakrishnan Shankar, Associate Dean, Amrita School of Engineering, Amritapuri.