Principal Investigator
Ranabir Dey
Ranabir is the leader of the SAM Group. Ranabir did his undergraduate studies in Mechanical Engineering from Jadavpur University, Kolkata. He completed his graduate studies (M.S. and Ph.D.) from Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. Subsequently, he joined the Physics of Complex Fluids group at the University of Twente in the Netherlands as a post-doctoral fellow (2016-2018). Prior to joining IITH in December 2020, Ranabir was a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Complex Fluids at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-organization in Goettingen, Germany (2019-2020). He continues to be a guest scientist at MPI-DS.
Ranabir is an avid reader, and a self-proclaimed cinephile. He likes to believe that if he had not been in academia, he would have definitely tried his luck at being a writer-director. One day, he hopes to write a treatise on the similarities between designing, executing, and communicating a scientific research work and directing a cinema. He is also a fitness enthusiast and likes to run and bike.
PhD Scholars
Smita S. Sontakke
Smita completed her undergraduate studies (B.Tech) in Mechanical Engineering from Walchand College of Engineering, Sangli. She pursued her master’s (M.Tech) from the Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur with a specialisation in Thermofluids Engineering. She is presently working on her Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad. She is interested about how the interactions with the deformable elastic walls of a soft microfluidic confinement influence the near-wall swimming and collective behaviour of microswimmers.
In addition to research, Smita enjoys swimming and playing volleyball and has represented IIT Hyderabad in an inter-IIT sports event. She also enjoys watching web shows and movies.
Subhasish Guchhait
Subhasish did his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from CEM Kolaghat and M.Tech in Applied Mechanics from IIEST, Shibpur. Currently, he is doing his PhD at IIT Hyderabad in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. His research area is the dynamics of self-propelled microswimmers in confined spaces, near curved, deformable interfaces and soft, porous, deformable walls.
Additionally, he is a good batsman in cricket. He loves to listen to music and play video games in his leisure time.
Click here to visit his portfolio. Click here to visit his G-Scholar profile.
Arvind Kumar
Arvind Kumar is group’s first Interdisciplinary (ID) doctoral student and is being co-advised with Dr. Anupam Gupta. He did his postgraduate studies in Mechanical Engineering from National Institute of Technology Rourkela.
He is a fitness freak and loves hitting the gym when not engaged with his research work.
Premkumar Iyer
Premkumar is an Interdisciplinary (ID) doctoral student being co-advised with Dr. Anupam Gupta. He did his undergraduate studies in Mechanical Engineering from RTM Nagpur University and holds a Master’s degree in Energy Engineering and Management from the National Institute of Technology Calicut. At SAM, his research focuses on the collective behaviour of active microswimmers immersed in viscoelastic medium.
Outside of the research work, Premkumar appreciates listening to pop music, sketching and casual reading to unwind. He is an automobile aficionado and enjoys leisurely drives. Being curious about culinary traditions, he enjoys experimenting with the spices and flavours in the kitchen.
Click here to visit his portfolio. Click here to connect with him on LinkedIn
Shruti Naikwadi
Shruti Naikwadi is a research scholar from the department of Physics under the guidance of Dr. Anupam Gupta, co-advised by Dr. Ranabir Dey. She has completed her B.Sc. in Physics from Savitribai Phule Pune University and Masters from Indian Institute of Technology Palakkad. Her research focuses on studying the collective behaviour of active microswimmers in the presence of external stimuli.
Apart from research, she enjoys dancing, drawing and watching movies.
Aneesha Kajampady
Aneesha completed his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, Bengaluru and M.Tech in Thermo-fluid Engineering from the department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, IIT Hyderabad. He is currently doing his PhD in the department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, IIT Hyderabad.
Apart from academics, he is into reading books, movies, tv series, video-gaming, amateur astrophotography, and cooking.
Master Students
Sudhanshu Sonje
Sudhanshu did his BE in Mechanical Engineering from Pimpri Chinchwad College of Engineering and Research, Pune. Currently he is pursuing his MTech in Thermo Fluids Engineering specialisation from IIT Hyderabad.
He is a car enthusiast. He loves watching F1, movies and series and listening to music in his free time.
Alumni
Nirmal Kumar Soren
(2025)
Harshit Ishwar Patel
(2024)
Whirlpool
Nikhil OR
(2023)
Flowserve India Controls Pvt Ltd
Pratyush Saha
(2023)
GKN Aerospace
Pavan Kumar
(2023)
Daimler India
Avi Rana
(2022)