Group Leader
Dr. K. Solanki is a Professor at Arizona State University’s School for Engineering of Matter, Transport, and Energy (SEMTE), and a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He recently commenced his role as Program Director for the Mechanics of Materials and Structures (MoMS) program at NSF/CMMI. Previously, he served as Associate Director for the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems at Mississippi State University, where he earned his Ph.D. in 2008.
Dr. Solanki’s research group explores process-structure-property relationships across various scales, focusing on developing advanced multifunctional materials capable of withstanding extreme conditions like radiation, high strain rates, fatigue, and creep. He has coauthored over 100 journal articles and numerous conference proceedings.
His contributions have garnered significant recognition. Dr. Solanki received the SAE Henry O. Fuch Award from the SAE Fatigue Design & Evaluation Committee for his efforts in promoting engineering education in fatigue technology. His work on multiscale modeling for predicting deformation and failure behavior in magnesium alloys earned him the TMS Light Metals Magnesium Best Fundamental Research Paper Award in 2011. In 2013, he was honored with the TMS Light Metals Division Young Leader Professional Development Award, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Research Award, and the ASME “Orr Award” for Early Career Excellence in Fatigue, Fracture, and Creep. In 2016, he received the Science Prize from the ONR/ECI. Dr. Solanki was also recognized with the 2017 ASU Fulton Exemplar Faculty Award and the Top 5% Teaching Award in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering.
Current Graduate Students
Saurabh Sharma, PhD. Student: Materials Science and Engineering
Antriksh Sharma, PhD. Student: Mechanical Engineering
Yashaswini Karanth, PhD. Student: Materials Science and Engineering
Alumni
Mehul Bhatia
PhD. Mechanical Engineering (Fall 2014)
@ Assistant Teaching Professor, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)
Dissertation: Role of impurities on the deformation of a HCP crystal: A multi-scale study
Ilaksh Adlakha
PhD. Mechanical Engineering (Summer 2015)
@ Associate Professor, IIT-Madras
Dissertation: Role of defect interactions with embrittlement species in Iron: A multiscale perspective
Mansa Rajagopalan
PhD. Materials Science and Engineering (Fall 2016)
Dissertation: Design of Stable Nanocrystalline Materials for Extreme Applications
Scott Turnage
PhD. Mechanical Engineering (Fall 2017)
Dissertation: Anomalous Dynamic Behavior of Stable Nanograined Materials
Benyamin Gholami Bazehhour
PhD. Mechanical Engineering (Spring 2018)
Dissertation: Multiscale Modeling of Oxygen Impurity Effects on Macroscopic Deformation and Fatigue Behavior of Commercially Pure Titanium
Pulkit Garg
PhD. Student: Materials Science and Engineering (Fall 2019)
Dissertation: The Effect of Defects on Functional Properties of Niobium for Superconducting Radio-Frequency Cavities: A First-Principles Study
Chaitanya Kale
PhD. Student: Materials Science and Engineering (Fall 2019)
Dissertation: Design of a Thermally Stable Nano-crystalline Alloy with Superior Tensile Creep and Fatigue Behavior
Soundarya Srinivasan
PhD. Student: Materials Science and Engineering (Summer 2021)
Dissertation: Structural stability and radiation tolerance of nanocrystalline Cu-Ta for extreme applications
Vikrant Beura
PhD. Student: Materials Science and Engineering (Summer 2022)
Dissertation: Role of solid-state processing induced deformation and microstructural variation on corrosion behavior of light-weight alloys