Ranga Pitchumani

Ranga Pitchumani is the George R. Goodson Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech since 2009, following prior roles including the John R. Jones III Professor at Virginia Tech (2009–2014) and Distinguished Professor at the University of Connecticut (2003–2008). He directs the Advanced Materials and Technologies Laboratory (AMTL), focusing on energy systems, materials processing, and uncertainty quantification.

• Education:
  • Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University (1992)
  • M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University (1988)
  • B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (1986)

Research Interests span energy conversion and storage, micro-/nanotechnologies, grid integration of renewables, and transport phenomena. His lab develops fractal-textured surfaces for solar absorbers, corrosion-resistant coatings for CSP systems, and machine learning tools for grid optimization. Sponsors include AFOSR, DOE, NSF, and ONR.

Scientific Awards include the 2022 ASME Frank Kreith Energy Award, 2022 ASES Charles Abbot Award (for R&D in solar energy), and being named a Fellow of ASME in 2004. Earlier recognitions include the 1996 ONR Young Investigator Award and multiple University of Connecticut honors.

AMTL research emphasizes dual-use innovations like solid-infused surfaces for condensation enhancement (5× improvement) and corrosion-resistant coatings that match nickel-based alloys' performance at lower costs. Key projects involve thermal control of battery packs using probabilistic forecasting and fractal-textured surfaces delaying freezing seven-fold.