Ankit Das

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Faculty Adviser: Craig Arnold
Year of Study: G1
Undergraduate School: Makaut, India
Undergraduate Major: Mechanical Engineering

Personal Bio

Since an early age, I was a very happy kid, so my parents raised me in the city of joy, Kolkata, India. Although I was always into sports rather than academics, however, my interest towards machines and more specifically, engineering grew at an early age. Since childhood, my father would show me basic engineering: making circuits, using multimeter and other things. We often worked on our own, and I often engaged in basic household works such as installing ceiling fans, dismantling old scooters to fix circuits, replacing broken clutch wires and faulty spark plugs.

My continuous urge to learn more about machines and technology made me curious on the depth of engineering. Everything began from my freshman year. I would often contact the manufacturers myself and annoy them for a demo, to learn about operating various machines, thereby beginning my research journey. I often visited various research facilities (both in an out of my country) motivating me to pursue research. Sometimes, if there was no availability of materials/equipment, I built my own machine. Interesting right? I used old machines/materials from scrap and build my own FSW machine, which was a great success (capable of welding 10 mm 7xxx Al). Therefore, if you saw me in my undergraduate days, I was often found with greasy hands up to my elbows!

Simultaneously, I gained knowledge and expertise on arc welding and various non-destructive characterizations. Another idea came across my mind to solve problems related to heat affected zone and its resulting properties in welds. Therefore, by introducing a low thermal diffusivity shielding material, successful modifications in terms of thermal behavior and corrosion resistance could be made, producing significant research output.

In May 2020, a devastating cyclone named “Amphan” had wreaked havoc across entire West Bengal, India. Patharpratima faced horrific crisis of access to clean water. With the pandemic at its peak, my colleague and I, along with the municipal corporation, brainstormed for plausible solutions, and came up with a wastewater treatment apparatus. This apparatus (sand-filter and biochar-based treatment chamber), was not only cost-effective, but it also addressed the immediate issue of lack of access to clean water and sanitation of the region. Subsequently, I came up with an idea to synthesize an organic nanofluid using self-synthesized sodium methoxide nanoparticles. This was first of its kind and it was widely accepted by industry experts, winning the COINS global grand challenge. Furthermore, I incorporated this idea to solar collectors, which had enormous potential in reducing operational costs in biodiesel production industries. There have been countless instances where I have been thinking promptly to solve real life problems and lead the society towards sustainability (Look me up on Google scholar/LinkedIn!!!).
So, this was just my undergraduate. I still have my two-year Master's story in Taiwan left! Although, I can keep going on, but I'll stop here and hope to introduce the rest later! Now, at Princeton, I love the opportunities campus which provides amazing places to brainstorm for research ideas. I believe, travelling refreshes the mind and helps us think more, so I would love to explore places around Princeton as hiking or small day trips with my mentee if possible!

Fun Fact

The fun fact about me is that, I have travelled a lot across different countries since my undergraduate days (all for free!!).
I had pursued a full time Master's degree at National Taiwan University (NTU). Therefore, I can speak some Mandarin as well, hence, if the mentee is interested in mentoring me for Mandarin lessons, it will be a fair exchange, ha-ha! Nonetheless, I am interested in learning new languages! So, I look forward to it!

Research Pitch

My present research is centered around additive/advanced manufacturing and lasers. Not to build lasers, but effectively use them to process materials. I focus on applications as well as exploring fundamental theories. At present, diabetes is one of the leading causes of death. As a mechanical engineer I cannot make medicine but I can build devices! Imagine a flexible wearable sensor that can detect your blood glucose levels from your sweat! Laser can be effectively used to print/transfer suitable materials which can act as wearable/flexible sensor electrodes. Laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) is one such process that can be successfully utilized for the same. In addition, I intend to explore fundamental studies of laser-material interaction. Possible questions might be: (i) How does light interact with materials? (ii) can we tune lasers to produce highly efficient manufacturing processes? (iii) Can we model LIFT using FEM based heat transfer and two-phase fluid flow models?
Furthermore, what is the coolest thing about my research approach is that my research is not limited to the above. I am open and I actively participate in miscellaneous research works for fun and environmental sustainability. Me and my collaborators (so called my friends pursuing PhD) across the world try to solve problems related to the SGDs highlighted by UNESCO, and sometimes we would also make RC airplanes for fun.
At present I actively collaborate with students and professors from more than 8 countries (U.S.A., Australia, Taiwan, Slovenia, Croatia etc.). Considering my diverse experience, I expect that I will be able to successfully collaborate with the mentee as well.
In general, my research methods are simple: (i) Find the problem, (ii) Find its causes, (iii)Read associated articles/works, (iv) Come up with possible solution hypothesis, (v) prove it (through experiments/theoretical/computational approaches) and finally (v) publish it. Often, we do good research works, but we are unable to present it to a platform, or write a successful research article out of it. Therefore, I will try to make sure that the work does not go unrecognized.