Editor (Ranga Pitchumani)

From Thermal-FluidsPedia

Dr. Pitchumani is the John R. Jones III Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 1992, and was with the University of Delaware Center for Composite Materials (1992-1994), and the University of Connecticut (1995-2008) prior to joining Virginia Tech. At the University of Connecticut, Dr. Pitchumani has served as the Director of Graduate Studies (1998-2004) and as the Department Head (2004-2006) in the Mechanical Engineering Department.

Dr. Pitchumani's research interests are in the areas of thermal/fluid sciences, fuel cells and alternative energy conversion technologies, advanced materials processing, micro- and nanoscale processes, microfabrication, and transport phenomena. During his career at the University of Connecticut, Dr. Pitchumani has been the principal investigator or a co-principal investigator on $6.0M of funding from NSF, ONR, AFOSR, ARO, DOE, NASA, Department of Education, and industries. Dr. Pitchumani is the author of 140 articles in archival journals and refereed conference proceedings, 7 edited book volumes, and 6 book chapters. He has been an Associate Technical Editor for the ASME Journal of Heat Transfer (2004-2007), serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Thermoplastic Composite Materials (1998-), and has been a guest editor for Polymer Composites. He has supervised or is presently supervising 5 postdoctoral fellows and 25 graduate students on their doctoral or masters dissertations. His teaching interests are in the core area of thermofluids sciences, and application areas including materials processing, fuel cells, and micro and nanofabrication.

Dr. Pitchumani has received many awards including the Young Investigator Award from the Office of Naval Research (1996; one of 34 awarded nationally in all fields), the School of Engineering Distinguished Professorship (2003-2006), the School of Engineering Outstanding Junior Faculty Award (1998), the Outstanding Mechanical Engineering Faculty Award (2000) and the Olin Faculty Award from OLIN Corporation (1995). He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (elected 2004) and is an elected member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering (2006).