Radhakrishna (Suresh) Sureshkumar

Distinguished Professor

345 Link Hall

rsureshk@syr.edu

315.443.1931

Degrees:

  • Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, University of Delaware, 1996
  • M.S. in Chemical Engineering, Syracuse University, 1992
  • B. Tech. in Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, 1990

Experience:

  • Lecturer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1996-97
  • Assistant Professor (1997-2002), Associate Professor (2002-2006), and Professor (2006-2009) of Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis
  • Visiting Professor, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2008
  • Visiting Professor, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, 2008
  • Visiting Professor, University of Porto, Portugal, 2008

Lab/Center Affiliation(s):

  • Multiscale Modeling and Simulation Laboratory
  • Complex Fluids Laboratory

Research Interests:

  • Complex Fluids
  • Soft Condensed Matter
  • Nanotechnology
  • Smart Materials
  • Sustainable Energy
  • Multiscale Modeling and Simulation

Current Research:

Sureshkumar’s current research focuses on (i) understanding the structure, dynamics and rheology of complex fluids and soft matter, and (ii) nanoscale science and engineering of functional materials and interfaces. Multiscale modeling and simulations as well as experiments are used to probe the response of complex soft matter and interfaces to external stimuli such as mechanical deformation caused by flow, chemical/thermal gradients and optical fields. Major ongoing research efforts target investigations of self-assembly and self-organization routes to robust nanomanufacturing of optically tunable interfaces with applications to efficient light trapping in thin film photovoltaics, self-assembly of nanoparticles with surfactant micelles and polymers, interactions of nanoparticles with cell membranes to assess their cytotoxicity, rheology of viscoelastic polymer solutions/melts, coherent structures dynamics in turbulent flows in presence of drag reducing additives, bacterial biofilm mechanics as well as signaling between bacterial and mammalian cells.

Courses Taught:

  • Chemical engineering methods
  • Multiscale modeling and simulation
  • Structure and rheology of complex fluids

Honors:

  • Invited Speaker, University of Delaware Chemical Engineering Centennial Seminar Series, Newark, Delaware (2014)
  • Keynote Speaker, International Congress on Rheology, Lisbon, Portugal (2012)
  • Keynote Speaker, European Congress on Computational Methods in Applied Sciences and Engineering, Vienna, Austria (2012)
  • Keynote Speaker, Lorentz Center Workshop on Flow Instabilities and Turbulence, Leiden, Netherlands (2010)
  • University of Michigan Competitive Sabbatical Grant (2008)
  • Royal Scottish Society of Edinburgh International Exchange Award, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland (2008)
  • Distinguished Speaker, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada (2008)
  • Invited Speaker, American Physical Society Annual Meeting, Baltimore (2006)
  • Invited Speaker, Materials Research Society Annual Meeting, Boston (2006)
  • Invited Speaker, American Institute of Chemical Engineering, Salt Lake City (2007)
  • National Science Foundation CAREER Award (1999)
  • ACS/PRF New Faculty Grant (1998)
  • University of Delaware Allan P. Colburn Prize, Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation in Engineering and Mathematical Sciences (1996)
  • University of Delaware Competitive Fellowship (1995)

Student Awards:

  • Graduate Student Poster Award (Mr. Tao Cong), Society of Rheology Annual Meeting, Cleveland, (2011)
  • Graduate Student Poster Award (Dr. M. Vasudevan), Society of Rheology Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, (2007)
  • Graduate Student Poster Award (Dr. R. Magan), Colloids & Surface Chemistry Division, ACS Annual Meeting, Philadelphia (2004)
  • Graduate Student Poster Award (Dr. R. Magan) Nanoscale S & E Forum, AIChE Annual Meeting, Austin (2004)

Selected Publications:

Sambasivam, A.V. Sangwai & R. Sureshkumar, Dynamics and scission of rod-like cationic surfactant micelles in shear flow, Phys. Rev. Lett., 114, 158302 (2015)

Dhakal & R. Sureshkumar, Topology, Length Scales and Energetics of Surfactant Micelles, J. Chem. Phys., 143, 024905 (2015)

S.C. DeSalvo, Y. Liu, G.S. Choudhary, D. Ren, S. Nangia & R. Sureshkumar, Signaling Factor Interactions with Polysaccharide Aggregates of Bacterial Biofilms, Langmuir, 31, 1958-66 (2015)

Estime, D. Ren & R. Sureshkumar, Effects of plasmonic film filters on microalgal growth and biomass composition, Algal Research, 11, 85-89 (2015)

Israelowitz, J. Amey, T. Cong & R. Sureshkumar, Spin Coated Plasmonic Nanoparticle Interfaces for Photocurrent Enhancement in Thin Film Si Solar Cells, Journal of Nanomaterials, Article ID 639458 (2014)

Kim & R. Sureshkumar, Spatiotemporal evolution of hairpin eddies, Reynolds stress, and polymer torque in polymer drag-reduced turbulent channel flows, Phys. Rev. E., 87, 063002 (2013)

Nangia & R. Sureshkumar, Effects of nanoparticle charge and shape anisotropy on translocation through cell membranes, Langmuir, 28, 1766-1771 (2012). Cover Article

Sangwai & R. Sureshkumar, Binary interactions and salt-induced coalescence of spherical micelles of cationic surfactants from molecular dynamics simulations, Langmuir, 28 (2), 1127–1135 (2012)

Cong, S.N. Wani & R. Sureshkumar, Structure and optical properties of self-assembled multicomponent plasmonic nanogels, Applied Physics Letters, 99, 043112 (2011)

Sangwai & R. Sureshkumar, Coarse-Grained Molecular Dynamics Simulations of the Sphere to Rod Transition in Surfactant Micelles, Langmuir, 27 (11), 6628–6638 (2011)

Torkamani, S. Wani, Y. Tang & R. Sureshkumar, Plasmon-enhanced microalgal growth in mini-photobioreactors, Applied Physics Letters, 97, 043703 (2010); Highlighted in Nature, 466 799 (2010)

Vasudevan, E. Buse, D. Lu, H. Krishna, R. Kalyanaraman, A.Q. Shen, B. Khomami & R. Sureshkumar, Irreversible nanogel formation in surfactant solutions by microporous flow, Nature Materials, 9, 436-441 (2010). Commentary by M. Pasquali, Nature Materials, 9, 381-382 (2010)

D.G. Thomas, B. Khomami & R. Sureshkumar, Nonlinear Dynamics of Viscoelastic Taylor-Couette Flow: Effect of Elasticity on Pattern Selection, Molecular Conformation and Drag, J. Fluid Mech., 620, 353-382 (2009).

Trice, C. Favazza, D.G. Thomas, H.G. Garcia, R. Kalyanaraman, R. Sureshkumar, A novel self-organization mechanism in ultrathin liquid films: theory and experiment, Phys. Rev. Lett., 101, 017802 (2008)

Kim, R.J. Adrian, S. Balachandar & R. Sureshkumar, Dynamics of hairpin vortices and polymer-induced turbulent drag reduction, Phys. Rev. Lett., 100, 134504 (2008)

C M. Vasudevan, A.Q. Ashen, B. Khomami & R. Sureshkumar, Self-similar shear-thickening behavior in CTAB/NaSal surfactant solutions, J. Rheol., 52, 527-50 (2008)

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