Principal Investigator

Vikram Gavini

Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science & Engineering

Education:

Ph.D Mechanical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, 2007
M.S. Applied Mechanics, California Institute of Technology, 2004
B.Tech Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, 2003

Research Interests:

Electronic structure calculations at macroscopic scales; Electronic structure studies on defects in materials; Quantum transport (algorithms and applications); Analysis of multi-scale methods; open-source DFT-FE code development.

Contact Information:

Office:
Telephone:
Email:		 Department of Mechanical Engineering, 1640 G.G. Brown
(734) 763-9685
vikramg@umich.edu

Research Scientists

Sambit Das

Assistant Research Scientist of Mechanical Engineering

Education:

Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2019

Research Interests:

DFT studies on defects in crystalline materials; Numerical algorithms; open-source DFT-FE code development.

Bikash Kanungo

Assistant Research Scientist of Mechanical Engineering

Education:

Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering and Scientific Computing, University of Michigan, 2019

Research Interests:

Algorithms for all-electron DFT calculation; Algorithms for time dependent DFT; Inverse problems in DFT.

Postdoctoral Scholars

Maria Beltran-Leiva

Postdoctoral Scholar in Mechanical Engineering

Education:

Ph.D. Molecular Physical Chemistry, Summa Cum Laude, Universidad Andres Bello (UNAB), Chile, 2019

Research Interests:

Quantum-chemistry methods applied to f-block systems; Multireference and DFT electronic structure approaches; Data-driven methodologies

Vishal Subramanian

MICDE Research Scholar

Education:

Ph.D. Materials Science & Engineering and Scientific Computing, University of Michigan, 2025

Research Interests:

Quantum accuracy materials simulations; Algorithms and HPC aspects of open source DFT-FE code

Nathaly Villacis

Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellow, MIDAS

Education:

Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2025

Research Interests:

Biomechanics; Digital twin technologies; Full volume methods for characterizing soft tissue damage

Students

Arghadwip Paul, PhD Candidate

Joined:

Winter 2023

Education:

M.Sc. Simulation Sciences, RWTH Aachen University, 2021; B.Tech Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Silchar, 2018

Research Interests:

Mathematical modeling for computational chemistry; Machine learning.

Avirup Sircar, PhD Candidate

Joined:

Winter 2023

Education:

M.Tech & B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharaghpur, 2022

Research Interests:

Large-scale electronic structure calculations using enriched finite element basis

Past Group Members

Research Scientists & Postdoctoral Scholars

Sambit Das

2019-2021, Postdoctoral Scholar
Presently: Assistant Research Scientist, University of Michigan

Bikash Kanungo

2019-2021, Postdoctoral Scholar
Presently: Assistant Research Scientist, University of Michigan

Chih-Chuen Lin

2021-2022, Postdoctoral Scholar
Presently: Intel Corporation Website

Krishnendu Ghosh

2017-2019, Postdoctoral Scholar
Presently: Intel Corporation Website

Phani Motamarri

2015-2019, Assistant Research Scientist; 2014-2015, Postdoctoral Scholar
Presently: Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore Website

Doctoral Students

Vishal Subramanian

2025, Ph.D. Materials Science & Engineering and Scientific Computing (Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship (2024))
Presently: MICDE Research Scholar, University of Michigan

Paavai Pari

2025, Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering and Scientific Computing
Presently: NVIDIA Corporation

Chih-Chuen Lin

2021, Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering and Scientific Computing (Rackham International Student Fellowship (2017))
Presently: Intel Corporation

Nelson Rufus

2021, Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering
Presently: Mathworks

Nathan Vaughn

2020, Ph.D. Applied and Interdisciplinary Mathematics, and Scientific Computing
Presently: Postdoctoral scholar, LANL

Bikash Kanungo

2019, Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering and Scientific Computing
Presently: Assistant Research Scientist, University of Michigan

Sambit Das

2019, Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering (Beyster Computational Innovation Fellowship (2017))
Presently: Assistant Research Scientist, University of Michigan

Janakiraman Balachandran

2014, Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering
Presently: Website

Mrinal Iyer

2014, Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering and Scientific Computing (Azharkin Fellowship (2010), Rackham International Student Fellowship (2011))
Presently: Website

Phani Motamarri

2014 Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering (Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship (2013))
Presently: Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore Website

Balachandran Radhakrishnan

2014, Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering
Presently: Website

Masters Students

Rohit Jain

2013, M.S. Mechanical Engineering
Presently: Website

Lionel Prinsloo

Candidate Engineer, South Africa

Bachelors Students

Jiani Fei

2021, B.S. in Interdisciplinary Physics and Computer Science
Presently: Graduate Student, Stanford University

Shukan Parekh

2020, B.S.E Mechanical Engineering
Presently: Graduate Student, Carnegie Mellon University

Mike Nowak

2013, B.S.E Computer Engineering
Presently: IC Design Engineer at Broadcom