Sriram Sundararajan, a mechanical engineering professor at Iowa State, has been named a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. The title of “Fellow” is only awarded to 2.5% of ASME members.
ASME cited Sundararajan’s selection because he is “an outstanding researcher and dedicated mechanical engineering educator.” His research on tribology and surface engineering has lead to an enhanced understanding of surface mechanisms and their durability. This work has allowed for improvement in the areas of biomedical implants, biorenewable materials, micro device fabrication and more.
Through his studies, Sundararajan and his team have developed surfaces that repel water and have built understandings around forces between cementitious particles and impacts of synovial fluids on biomedical implant materials. They have also developed a technique to evaluate the nano scale apex of probes used for scanning probe microscopy.
Sundararajan received his B.E. in mechanical engineering from The Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani, India, before moving to The Ohio State University for his M.S. and Ph.D. also in mechanical engineering.
In addition to his time as a professor at Iowa State, Sundararajan is the equity advisor for the College of Engineering. He also serves on committees for the International Conference on Wear of Materials and the Mechanical Engineering Division of the American Society of Engineering Education, and is an ABET program evaluator for ASME. Sundararajan has received both the Young Engineering Faculty Research Award and Early Achievement in Teaching Award from Iowa State.
Sundararajan says he is honored to be recognized by ASME. “The accomplishments that led to this recognition would not have been possible without the many wonderful mentors, colleagues and students I have had the opportunity to work with throughout my academic career.”