Prashun Gorai

Dr. Prashun Gorai is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), with a joint appointment at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and postdoctoral experience at the Colorado School of Mines and NREL. His research focuses on computational materials discovery, leveraging first-principles methods and machine learning to design functional materials for energy and sustainability.

Education:

• Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering (IIT Madras, 2008)
• Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering (UIUC, 2014)

Research Interests: Dr. Gorai’s work spans computational design of materials for energy conversion/storage, next-gen microelectronics, and environmental sustainability. Key areas include ferroelectric materials, thermoelectrics, defect engineering, and machine learning-driven material discovery. His team collaborates internationally with experimental groups to bridge theory and application.

Awards: He has received the 2023 Chemistry of Materials Lectureship Award and the 2022 Young Investigator Award from the International Thermoelectric Society, highlighting his contributions to materials science.

Advising: Dr. Gorai leads the 3D Materials Lab at RPI, mentoring a team including PhD students and postdocs. Notable advisees include Dr. Michael Toriyama (co-advised) and undergrad researcher Victoria Bradford. His lab also focuses on grant-funded projects from NSF, DOE, and ARPA-E.

Labs/Teams: The 3D Materials Lab is based at RPI’s CBIS and NREL, emphasizing high-throughput computing and inverse design methodologies. Current projects explore wurtzite ferroelectrics, defect-tolerant thermoelectrics, and sustainable materials innovation.