Harshavardhan Kalathur

Dr. Harshavardhan Kalathur is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Department in the École Centrale School of Engineering, at Mahindra University. His research interests are in the area of high-performance materials with applications across diverse disciplines. Specifically, his research group works on studying the underlying mechanisms that govern mechanical behaviour of materials with structure. These kinds of materials are popularly known as mechanical metamaterials. The scope of research includes design, simulation, fabrication, experimental validation and optimization of structural parameters, for best performance. His research group makes use of contemporary design tools along with state-of-the-art experimental apparatus for conducting mechanical metamaterials research.

• Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics, University of Wisconsin – Madison, U.S.A, 2015.

• M.Sc. in Engineering Mechanics, University of Wisconsin – Madison, U.S.A, 2010.

• B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering, Jawaharlal Technological University-Hyderabad, 2009.

• Kalathur, H., Lakes, R.S., “Enhancement in piezoelectric sensitivity via negative structural stiffness”, J. Intell. Mat. Sys. and Struc., 27(18) 2568-2573 (2016).
• Rodriguez, B., Kalathur, H.and Lakes, R. S., “A sensitive piezoelectric composite lattice: experiment”, Physica Status Solidi, 251(2) 349-353 (2014).

• Kalathur, T. M. Hoang, R. S. Lakes and W. J. Drugan, “Buckling Mode Jump at Very Close Load Values in Unattached Flat-End Columns: Theory and Experiment”, J. Appl. Mech. 81(4), 041010 Sept. (2013).
• Kalathur, H., Lakes, R. S., “Column dampers with negative stiffness: high damping at small amplitude”, Smart Materials, 22, 084013 (8pp) (2013).

• Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering, Mahindra University, Hyderabad, 2019-present.

• Entrepreneurial Intern, Tandemlaunch Inc., Montreal, Canada, 2018-2019.

• Associate Lecturer, Engineering Physics, University of Wisconsin – Madison, U.S.A, 2018.

• Postdoctoral Research Associate in Engineering Physics, University of Wisconsin – Madison, U.S.A, 2017-2018.

• Postdoctoral Fellow in Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, Canada, 2016-2017.

Teaching

• Mechanics, Mechanical Engineering, École Centrale School of Engineering, Fall 2021.
• Mechanics of Solids, Mechanical Engineering, École Centrale School of Engineering, Spring 2021.

• Mechanics, Mechanical Engineering, École Centrale School of Engineering, Fall 2020.
• Experimental Analysis Lab: Dynamics and Vibrations, Mechanical Engineering, École Centrale School of Engineering, Fall 2020.
• Mechanics of Solids, Mechanical Engineering, École Centrale School of Engineering, Spring 2020.

• Experimental Analysis Lab: Dynamics and Vibrations, Mechanical Engineering, École Centrale School of Engineering, Fall 2019.

• Teaching Assistant for Dynamics, Engineering Physics, University of Wisconsin – Madison, U.S.A, Spring 2015.

• Teaching Assistant for Statics, Engineering Physics, University of Wisconsin – Madison, U.S.A, 2011-2012.

• Teaching Assistant for Practicum in Finite Elements, Engineering Physics, University of Wisconsin – Madison, U.S.A, Fall 2013.

• Teaching Assistant for Electrical Measurements and Instrumentation Lab, Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin – Madison, U.S.A, Fall 2010.

• Design and development of high-performance materials with structure, systems for diverse applications.
• Research lifecycle includes modelling, computational analysis and optimization, fabrication, testing and validation.
• Concepts such as Negative Stiffness, Negative Poisson’s ratio (Auxetic) for developing designed materials that exhibit unique mechanical properties, are explored.
• The over-arching theme is to combine otherwise mutually exclusive properties such as Modulus and Damping, Strength and Weight, Modulus and Weight, Strength and Toughness, etc. to develop designed material systems, for high performance.