Narayana Aluru

Narayana Aluru is a Professor and Cockrell Family Regents Chair in Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, holding positions in the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences. He joined UT Austin in 2021 after a 23-year tenure at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he served as a Professor, Director of Computational Science and Engineering (2012–2017), and held leadership roles in academic and professional organizations.

Education:

• B.E. (Hons), Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, India (1989)
• M.S., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1991)
• Ph.D., Stanford University (1995)
• Postdoctoral Associate, MIT (1995–1997)

Research Interests: Dr. Aluru specializes in computational nanotechnology, focusing on multiscale methods integrating quantum, atomistic, mesoscale, and continuum scales. His work addresses nanofluidics, bionanotechnology, nanomaterials, and soft matter, with applications in water desalination, nanopower generation, DNA sequencing, and energy storage. His group develops advanced simulation techniques to study phenomena such as ion transport, surface interactions, and nanoscale energy conversion.

Publications: His recent work highlights advancements in nanofluidics, nanomaterials, and multiscale modeling. Key themes include dielectric behavior in confined fluids, charge inversion in electric double layers, and energy harvesting via MoS₂ nanopores. These studies bridge fundamental physics and engineering applications.

Awards:

• Charles Russ Richards Memorial Award (ASME, 2024)
• Cockrell Family Regents Chair (UT Austin, 2023)
• Fellow of AAAS, APS, ASME, and IACM
• National Science Foundation CAREER Award (1999)

Advising & Grants: A dedicated educator, Dr. Aluru has advised numerous graduate students and postdocs. He has led research supported by grants from NSF, DOE, and industry, emphasizing computational methods and nanotechnology. His teaching excellence was recognized repeatedly at UIUC.

Labs/Teams: He leads the Multiscale Nanotechnology Group and collaborates with the Oden Institute, advancing interdisciplinary research in computational engineering and nanotechnology.