P&G Simulation Technology Scholarships

Current and former UC Simulation Center undergraduate and graduate students received scholarships and awards at the Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering awards ceremony April 18, 2018. An Fun was awarded the P&G Simulation Technology Scholarship. Hongrui Yu received the Martin C. Hemsworth Scholarship. Andrew Martin and Nicholas Robben were each awarded the Phillip C. Quo Scholarship. Eleanor Scott received the John Moteff Scholarship. Ullhas Hebbar took 3rd prize in the MS-level student paper competition.

For the 2017 P&G Technology Scholarships, we recognize recipients Andrew Engel and Deepak Saagar Kalaikadal. Andrew is an MS student, while Deepak is a PhD student, both in Mechanical Engineering. These students are being recognized for their technical contributions as well as mentoring of younger students.

Andrew has been a part of the UC Simulation Center since May 2015 and is finishing his MS in Mechanical Engineering this Spring. In his research, Andrew has been validating a novel method of capturing the mechanical response of human finger tissue and developing a complementary finite element model of an anatomic human finger. Together, these can be utilized to accurately predict consumer discomfort when interacting with packages. His academic advisor is Professor Kumar Vemaganti.

Deepak earned his MS in Mechanical Engineering from UC in 2012 and continued to pursue a PhD in Thermal Fluid Sciences. His current work focuses on the use of additives for controlling bubble growth in complex liquids to achieve passive enhancement of boiling heat transfer. He academic advisor is Professor Raj Manglik at the Thermal Fluids and Thermal Processing Laboratory. Since joining the Simulation Center in September 2014, Deepak has worked on the modeling of free surface flows in layered porous media.

Congratulations to this year’s P&G Technology Scholarships recipients!

For the 2016 P&G Technology Scholarships, we recognize recipients Sucharitha Rajendran and Karthik Remella. They are both PhD students in Mechanical Engineering. These students are being recognized for their technical contributions as well as mentoring of younger students.

Sucharitha came to UC in 2010 to pursue her Masters in Fluids and Thermal Sciences. Upon completing her Masters in 2012, she continued on for a doctoral degree in the same field. Her dissertation topic explores drop generation mechanism and subsequent drop impact dynamics. Suchi's academic advisor is Professor Milind A. Jog. Suchi has been working at the UC simulation center on system models of polymeric flows.

Karthik graduated with a Master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati in December 2012 and started working towards his Ph.D in Spring 2013. The primary focus of his research is to understand the operating physics of a novel Closed Loop Two-Phase Wicked Thermosyphon. This work has applications in thermal management of high power LEDs and other microelectronics. Karthik’s academic advisor is Professor Frank M. Gerner. Apart from his dissertation, he has worked at the UC Simulation Center on developing a multiphysics model of electro-magnetic heating in porous media since Summer 2013.

Congratulations to this year’s P&G Technology Scholarships recipients!

For the 2015 P&G Technology Scholarships, we recognize recipients Vignesh Jayakumar and Sandeep Madireddy. They are both PhD students in Mechanical Engineering.

Vignesh is finishing his 3rd year at UC, has completed his MS in Mechanical Engineering, and will be pursuing a PhD. His area of research is structural dynamics and vibration under academic advisor Professor Jay Kim.

Sandeep earned his MS at Utah State University before coming to UC to pursue a PhD in Mechanical Engineering. He's currently finishing his 3rd year at UC. His dissertation topic is exploring Bayesian techniques in Uncertainty Quantification and its application in scientific computing. Sandeep's academic advisor is Associate Professor Kumar Vemaganti.

Congratulations to this year's P&G Technology Scholarships recipients!

This year’s P&G Technology Scholarship marks the 5th year of the award. During this time, the UC Simulation Center has expanded to over 40 students. Thanks to the increasing size, this year there will be two scholarships presented. The recipients are Sandeep Medikonda and Ehsan Rajabi Jaghargh. They are both PhD students in Mechanical Engineering.

Sandeep has worked diligently at implementing material models in finite element analysis codes. He routinely demonstrates his ability to grasp complex technical subjects, both learning and teaching others. He is dedicated to getting things done right, and is a pleasure to work with. Sandeep’s academic advisor is Associate Professor Ala Tabiei.  

Ehsan’s area of study is in computational fluid dynamics. He strives to ensure that he has a complete understanding of the problem at hand which allows him to create accurate numerical models. He is also able to provide suggestions for improvement and insight into the problem at hand, above and beyond expectations. Ehsan’s academic advisor is Professor Rupak Banerjee.

Congratulations to this year’s P&G Technology Scholarships recipients!

Aravind Kishore, CEAS mechanical engineering student and PhD candidate, was recently awarded the Procter & Gamble Simulation Technology Scholarship in recognition of his work in modeling and simulation of multiphase flows, his active involvement and collaboration with other technical teams on a variety of problems at the Simulation Center, and his mentoring of new students at the Simulation Center.

Mr. Daniel O’Brien is the 3rd recipient of the P&G Simulation Technology Scholarship for exhibiting exemplary leadership and for his outstanding contributions to understanding diapering and skin mechanics. Daniel has mastered several modeling disciplines used within P&G, and has grown into a trusted resource for other students to learn from. As part of his early work at the UC Simulation Center, Daniel became an expert in computational fluid dynamics. He later mastered finite element analysis, and initiated and implemented several methods to further automate work processes in Abaqus. Some of his work was the basis for a patent that P&G has applied for, and has been recognized internally as a major cost innovation. His Master’s thesis work required him to learn how to make measurements and build material models, which is yet another invaluable skillset to have as a successful modeler. Daniel is highly organized and task driven, while fully engaged in the overall objective and business impact of his work. He seeks out guidance when needed, produces timely results in a user-friendly form, and is happy to train other students in using modeling software and P&G systems. Daniel achieves results while probing for methods to improve the work process, and he’s skilled at building alignment amongst team members. Daniel’s character and know-how have led him to be a go-to resource for other FEA analysts at the UC Simulation Center, and he’s quickly becoming a resource for others within that community at P&G.

P&G has awarded Nikhil Palakurthi the P&G Simulation Technology Scholarship for his outstanding effort and contribution to the free surface flow modeling project at the UC Simulation Center. Nikhil is the second recipient of this scholarship. Nikhil has been working at the UC Simulation Center in partnership with P&G technologists, both local and global to enhance our understanding of free surface flow and its impact on product quality. Nikhil has excelled in several  important areas: Delivering high quality technical results in the area of fluid mechanics and numerical methods; Clearly demonstrating his fundamental engineering training by quickly identifying key challenges/opportunities and formulating a strategy to obtain a solution; and Effectively communicating the technical concepts, ideas, results to drive decisions.

Nikhil, through vendor training and self initiated study has become proficient in the use of one of the key CFD software’s in our Free Surface Flow Community, Flow3d.  As part of his early work at the UC SimCenter he was able to identify numerical and formulation errors in one of our physical property models as well as propose a reformulation which has been deployed to the larger P&G CFD community. His more recent work has involved developing a validated CFD  based simulation system to  accurately predict product quality issues and enable virtual design enhancements. Nikhil’s energy, drive and clarity of communication has enabled him to directly participate with our Global design team. During these interactions he has influenced product design decisions by using his technical understanding of fluid mechanics supported by simulations results. He has gone beyond analyzing existing designs to using his technical insight to propose improvements. Nikhil has really exceeded all the expectations, and we look forward to his continued collaboration.

Bo Bi, Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Student Class of 2010, has been awarded the first ever P&G Simulation Technology Scholarship in recognition for his outstanding work at the UC Simulation Center. P&G established this scholarship fund in order to recognize excellence in the application of simulation technology in solving practical problems. The department congratulates Bo Bi on his achievement and looks forward to continuing to benefit from his exceptional abilities