Robert V. Adams Professor of Mechanical Engineering

Contact Information:

E-mail: raman@purdue.edu
Phone: 765-494-5733
Group Page

Education:

PhD/UC Berkeley/1999, MSME/Purdue/1993, B. Tech/IIT Delhi/ 1991

Research Interests:

Nonlinear and stochastic dynamics of micro and nano-oscillators, nanotube/nanowire vibrations, development of new imaging and force spectroscopy modes in dynamic Atomic Force Microscopy, dynamic AFM in liquids, nanobiomechanics, physics of adhesion and stiction at the micro and nanoscale, chem/bio sensing using micro and nanocantilevers, mechanics and reliability of RF MEMS, gas damping in MEMS/NEMS, reduced order modeling of MEMS/NEMS

Research Impact Statement:

The group is broadly interested in forces and motion at micro and nanoscale from a theoretical and experimental perspective. For example in one effort we are working on exploiting nonlinear cantilever dynamics in liquids to improve resolution and compositional contrast of Atomic Force Microscopes for soft biological samples for example for fast mapping of local elasticity of living cells or viruses; in another effort we are using experiments and theory to understand the stiction and friction between carbon nanotubes and graphene and polymer for next generation nanocomposites; in yet another effort we are looking at gas damping of radio-frequency MEMS which is closely connected to the reliability of such devices.