Dr. Nandhini Raju

Nandhini Raju

Sample Environment Research Engineer

Contact

RAJUN@ORNL.GOV

Bio

Dr. Nandhini Raju is a dedicated and highly skilled researcher with a strong background in heat transfer, turbomachinery, energy systems, and advanced engineering research. Currently serving as a Research Engineer at High Temperature Sample environment group, she brings a wealth of experience from a variety of cutting-edge roles. She works in levitators, furnaces and user experiments at ORNL.

In 2024, Nandhini contributed to the Graduate Research at ORNL-GRO in the Neutron Scattering Division at the High Flux Isotope Reactor, ORNL (Feb 2024 – Jul 2024), further strengthening their expertise in extreme environments and material sciences. Previously, she gained practical experience as an Engineering Intern at Siemens Energy Inc. in Orlando, working on large gas turbines. She has held multiple research and project roles internationally and made significant strides in advanced research projects. Her journey also includes research positions at Singapore University of Technology and Design, the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, National Aerospace Laboratories, India where she worked across multiple labs, including Additive Manufacturing labs, Engineering Design & Central Workshop, Internal Combustion Lab, Turbo Machinery Lab, Rarefied Gas Dynamics Lab.

With a diverse academic and professional trajectory, Nandhini continues to contribute valuable insights and innovations to High Temperature Sample Environment (HTSE) at ORNL.

Professional Experience

  1. Research Associate at Heat Transfer lab, University of Tennessee, Knoxville (Sep 2024 - Nov 2024)
  2. Graduate Research at ORNL -GRO at Neutron Scattering Division, High Flux Isotope Reactor, ORNL (Feb 2024 - July 2024)
  3. Engineering Intern at Large Gas Turbine, Simens Energy Inc (Orlando) (May 2023 - Dec 2023)
  4. Graduate Research Assistant at Center for Advanced Turbomachinery and Energy Research, University of Central Florida (2020-2024)
  5.  Graduate Teaching Assistant at University of Central Florida (2019-2020)
  6. Research Assistant at Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore (Apr 2018 - Aug 2019)
  7. Research Intern at Engineering Design & Central Workshop, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (Jan 2018 - Mar 2018)
  8. Project Associate at Engineering Design, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (Jun 2017 - Sep 2017)
  9. Project Associate at Internal Combustion lab, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (Jan 2017 - Jun 2017)
  10. Project Associate at Turbo Machinery lab. Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (May 2016 -Dec 2016)
  11. Research Intern at National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), India (Apr 2015 -Oct 2015)
  12. Research Intern at Rarefied Gas Dynamics Lab, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (Jun 2014 - Oct 2014)

Awards

  1. 1. Department of Energy Award – Graduate Research at ORNL (GRO). 
  2. Neutron Beam time at ORNL 
  3. Elisabeth M. and Winchell M. Parsons Scholarship for fall 2022 from ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers)
  4. Dr. Subrato Chandra Memorial Scholarship from UCF CECS (College of Engineering and Computer Science) 2022-2023 academic year
  5.  NSF (National Science Foundation) Student award to attend and present research works in 32ndannual meeting (Solidfreeform fabrication 2021) 
  6. Siemens Energy Doctoral Fellowship for doctoral research work: Summer 2020- 2024 
  7. Graduate Teaching Assistant- Fall 2019-Spring 2020 
  8. Silver Medal from Vel Tech Technical University for academic proficiency in Bachelors. 
  9. Winner of Vel Tech Mahatma Gandhi National Merit Scholarship for 4 years of bachelor’s degree 

     

Education

Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (2024) | University of Central Florida, USA. 

M.S in Mechanical Engineering (MSME-Specialized in Thermo-fluids track) (2021) | University of Central Florida, USA.

 M.Sc., Aerospace Engineering (2017) | Nanyang Technical University - Technical University of Munich, Singapore.

B.Tech., Aeronautical Engineering (2013) | Vel Tech University, India

Professional Service

  1. Student member of American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) 
  2. Member of Society of Women Engineers (SWE)
  3. Reviewer for summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) grants, UCF
  4. Reviewer for Frontiers in Manufacturing Technology
  5. Reviewer of ASME Turbo Exp 2022 conference 

  6. Reviewer for the 32nd annual meeting (Solidfreeform fabrication 2021)- 2 paper

     

Professional Affiliations

  1. American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
  2. Society of Women Engineers (SWE)

Other Publications

Journals

  1.  Nandhini Raju, Samyeon Kim, David W. Rosen, “A Characterization Method for Mechanical Properties of Metal Powder Bed Fusion Parts,” International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing 2020, published 15 April 2020 (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-020-05298-7) 
  2. Jaehyeok Doh, Nandhini Raju, Nagarajan Raghavan, David W.Rosen, Samyeon Kim, “Bayesian inference based decision of fatigue life model for metal additive manufacturing considering effects of build orientation and post-processing,” International Journal of Fatigue (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142112321003893) 

  3. Peter warren, Nandhini Raju, Hossein Ebrahimi, Milos Krsmanvoic, Seetha Raghavan, Jayanta Kapat, Ranajay Ghosh, “ Effect of Sintering Temperature on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Molded Martian and Lunar Regolith” Cermics International, July 2022(https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2022.07.329) 

     Conferences 

  4. Nandhini Raju, Manoj Prabakar, Biswajit Medhi, Osborn Oliver, T.M. Muruganandam, “Tomography Schlieren system for Visualization of supersonic jet,” 54th AIAA Aerospace Science Meeting, AIAA SciTech (2016 - 1050) (https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/6.2016-1050) 
  5. Nandhini Raju, Balaganesan, Saravana Kumar G “Energy Consumption of Welding based additively manufactured materials,” 7 th international & 28th All Indian Manufacturing Technology, Design and Research Conference 2018(AIMTDR 2018 Conference)(https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9433- 2_11) 
  6. Nandhini Raju, Manoj Prabakar Sargunaraj, Biswajit Medhi, Muruganandam T M.,” Three Dimensional Schlieren Using Iterative Phase Tomography” AIAA SciTech Forum 2020, January 6-10, Orlando, USA.(https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2020-2205) 
  7. Akshay Khadse, Ladislav Vesely, James Sherwood, Andres Curbelo, Vipul Goyal, Nandhini Raju, Jayanta S. Kapat, Wanjae Kim, paper number: GT2020-15523, “Study of Buoyancy effects on Supercritical CO2 heat transfer in circular pipes”, Turbomachinery Technical Conference and Exposition, June 22-26, London, England. (https://doi.org/10.1115/GT2020-15523) 
  8. Nandhini Raju, Tonse Gokuldas Pai, Verma S B, Venkatakrishnan L, “An Experimental Investigation of Turbo-Ramjet Engine Intake at Mach 4”, 2020 AIAA Propulsion & Energy Forum, New Orleans, LA (virtual event)(https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2020-3772) 
  9. Emmanuel Gabriel-Ohanu, Akshay Khadse, Ladislav Vesely, Nandhini Raju, Marcel Otto, Jayanta S. Kapat, Kurt Harris, Paper No: GT2021-59939 “Optimization of a primary heat exchanger for fLiBe molten salt nuclear reactor with SCO2 power system”, Turbomachinery technical conference and exposition GT2021, June 7-11, 2021, Virtual.(https://doi.org/10.1115/GT2021-59939) 
  10. Nandhini Raju, David W. Rosen, “Fatigue Properties of 3D printed Maraging steel”, 2021 Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium, Austin TX, USA (https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/90687/2021-06…) 
  11. Nandhini Raju, Peter Warren, Ramesh Subramanian, Ranajay Ghosh, Seetha Raghavan, Erik Fernandez, Jayanta Kapat, “Material Properties of 17-4PH Stainless Steel Fabricated by Atomic Diffusion Additive Manufacturing (ADAM)”, 2021 Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium, Austin TX, USA (http://utw10945.utweb.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/2021/074%20Materia… 7-4PH%20Stainless%20Steel%20Fabr.pdf) 
  12. Peter Warren, Nandhini Raju, Milos Krsmanovic, Hossein Ebrahmi, Jayanta Kapat, Ramesh Subramanian, Ranajay Ghosh, GT2022- 83418 “Shrinkage Prediction Using Machine Learning for Additively Manufactured Ceramic and Metallic Components for Gas Turbine Applications”, Proceedings of ASME Turbo Expo 2022: Turbomachinery Technical Conference and Exposition, GT 2022.(https://doi.org/10.1115/GT2022-83418) 
  13. Nandhini Raju, Peter Warren, Ramesh Subramanian, Ranajay Ghosh, Erik Fernandez, Seetha Ragavan, Jayanta Kapat, GT2022-83592 “Sintering Behavior of 3D Printed 17-4PH Stainless Steel”, Proceedings of ASME Turbo Expo 2022: Turbomachinery Technical Conference and Exposition, GT 2022.(https://doi.org/10.1115/GT2022-83592) 
  14. Nandhini Raju, Quentin Fouliard, Jeffrey R Bunn, Ramesh Subramanian, Jayanta Kapat, Seetha Raghavan GT2023-102572: “Neutron Characterization of 3D Printed Gas turbine alloy with internal Cooling Structure” Proceeding of ASME Turbo Expo 2023, Turbomachinery Technical Conference and Exposition GT 2023, June 26-30, Boston, Masschusetts(https://doi.org/10.1115/GT2023-102572) 
  15. Abhilash M Prasad, Elena Torres, Nandhini Raju, Erik Fernandez, Jayanta Kapat, GT2024-122070 :“Design and Evaluation of High Temperature Alkali Metal Heat Pipe for sCO2 Heat Exchanger Interface” Proceeding of ASME Turbo Expo 2024, Turbomachinery Technical Conference and Exposition GT 2024, June 24- June 29, London . 

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