Sivaraman Ramanathan

Graduate Studies in Materials Science and Engineering

Statement of purpose
I am interested in pursuing doctoral studies in Materials Science and Engineering at University of Illinois (UIUC). My fields of interest include computational materials science, electronic materials and mechanical behavior. I chose UIUC primarily for its cutting-edge research in materials science and for its reputation for attracting the worlds brightest minds. In my freshman year at college, I did an introductory course on materials science and was impressed by the essentiality of the subject. It struck me as one of the rare fields that encompass both pure-science as well as engineering-oriented topics. The interest on the subject could only deepen as I entered my sophomore year, when I was introduced to fundamental topics like Thermodynamics of Materials, Phase Transformations and Transport Phenomena, to name a few. I thoroughly enjoyed doing all my major courses and as a result obtained the highest grade in all of them. The fact that I was the only student who managed to do so gave me immense confidence in my abilities as a competent student who could grasp concepts well. However, I realized that though classroom environment is informative and challenging for a student, it is not the pinnacle of academia. The following summer, I got an opportunity to work with Dr. S. Karthikeyan (Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore) under the Summer Research Fellowship Program offered by the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research. I worked on Dislocation Dynamics Simulation of Jogged-Screw Dislocations, which has a critical bearing on the creep rate of industrially relevant systems such as -Ti and -TiAl. The study was conducted using DDLab, developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab. The 3-D simulations affirmed our predictions regarding the tilted nature of equilibrium jog configurations, which was something not verified before. The study not only provided a qualitative explanation for some of the experimentally observed facts such as tall jogs observed in motion, but also provided new insights (in contrast to previous works) into the controlling influence of several parameters such as applied stress, jog height and jog spacing that affect the motion of a jogged-screw dislocation. The project secured the Rajiv Gandhi Science Talent Research Scholar Award, given only to 15 students in India annually. The project also secured the first prize at the Symposium for Materials Processing, NMD-ATM 20091. This research internship was an invaluable academic experience for two reasons. First, I was introduced to the concept of research (and life as a research scholar), which I discovered was very enjoyable. Working with totally new concepts not attempted before and getting interesting results was an enthralling experience altogether. It gave me confidence that I could quickly adapt to fields in which I did not have much prior exposure. Second, I saw computational materials science as a new field of interest that I could pursue further, due to my strong foundation in both theory and computational skills. This belief was further re-affirmed when I secured the highest grade in the Introduction to Computational Fluid Dynamics course, which gave a birds-eye view of the vast ocean of CFD. My willingness to explore new vistas in material science came to the fore when I presented a term paper on Applications of Carbon Nano-tubes in Tribology as part of the Surface Modifications course. Through the course, I was introduced to different aspects of surface engineering, from fundamental
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http://2009.nmd-atm.net/images/ATM-2009-Award-List-FINAL.pdf (Oral Symposium B)

Sivaraman Ramanathan

Graduate Studies in Materials Science and Engineering

physics of friction and wear to advanced coating and deposition processes. It made me realize the enormity of opportunities where I could pursue my research. I also learnt a lot of industrially relevant courses in my third year, and did industrial internship at Saint Gobain Glass India, Chennai, where I had the opportunity to apply the theoretical knowledge that I had learned in my courses, especially the one on Environmental Degradation of Materials. I recommended corrosion prevention and control methods, which were successfully implemented and led to cost savings and reduced glass breakage in the automotive-glass division of the company. I am currently working on modeling solidification and microstructure evolution using the phase-field technique as part of my undergraduate thesis, under the guidance of Dr. G Phanikumar. I have already implemented models capable of simulating eutectic coupled-growth in simple binary alloy systems. I intend to extend it to a more rigorous model capable of simulating poly-phase solidification, also incorporating the polycrystalline nature of the solidifying phases. The fundamental paradigm of mathematically modeling natural phenomena and watching them evolve through simulation has always captured my imagination, especially when we observe that our models have real predictive capabilities. My undergraduate thesis has been instrumental in bringing back this wonderful experience. Not a person to miss out on extra-curricular activities, I have won several competitions such as Simulation Championships, Math Modeling and Programming Contests in annual technical festivals of IIT Madras and other universities throughout my undergraduate years, as I have enjoyed mathematics and problem solving from my school days. My humble experience with simulation and modeling thus far has been sufficient in making me realize the power of computational materials science. At UIUC, I find my research interests to be closely aligned with those of Dr. Duane Johnson and Dr. Dallas Trinkle due to their fascinating work in theoretical and computational aspects of materials science. Also of interest to me are the groups of Dr. Angus Rockett and Dr. Leslie Allen. From being the school topper in my secondary school board examinations to being the branch topper in my department at IIT Madras for the past six semesters, I have exhibited consistency in academic excellence throughout my academic career. I have also been able to back it with goal-oriented perseverance. I firmly believe that UIUC will provide an intellectually stimulating and challenging academic environment that I would cherish thriving in, and sincerely hope to get an admission to pursue my ultimate dream of becoming a research scientist.