Suresh G. Advani
Unidel Pierre S. du Pont Chair of Engineering
Email: advani@udel.edu
Department: Mechanical Engineering, University of Delaware
Dr. SURESH ADVANI has made a significant scientific impact through a mixture of research, education, and leadership. His leadership in the composites manufacturing area, in particular, has helped Delaware earn a number of multi-million-dollar grants over the last three decades, and has contributed to the success of UD’s renowned Center for Composite Materials. Process modeling tools developed by Advani’s lab are now considered a crucial component to address the challenges and gaps in the advancement of composites. In addition, starting in 2004, he helped establish a fuel cell bus program with Professor Ajay Prasad, which has resulted in contributions in fuel cells, batteries, hydrogen generation and storage in addition to testing with a fleet of fuel cell buses on the UD campus.
Advani is a Fellow of American Society of Mechanical Engineers and is the North American Editor for the journal Composites A: Applied Science and Manufacturing. He is also a prolific writer, having co-authored nearly 300 refereed journal papers, co-authored or edited six books, and holding three patents. He received the American Society of Composites Outstanding Research Award for his exceptional contributions.
Advani has created an educational legacy as well. He has mentored more than 85 graduate students. When he served as department chair, he made significant improvements to undergraduate education, including a renewed focus toward hands-on and interdisciplinary learning accomplished through the creation of the maker space (i.e. the Design Studio), increased department funding for undergraduate researchers, and the integration of other engineering majors alongside mechanical engineering students in our Senior Design capstone course. He was awarded the graduate Student Mentoring Award in 2008 and was recognized as the Educator of the year by the Society of Plastic Engineers in 2015.
Research Area
- Polymer and Composite Processing,
- Multi-Scale Modeling and Simulation
- Nanoscale Processing
- Transport Phenomena in Manufacturing Processes,
- Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics and Rheology,
- Particle and Fiber Suspensions,
- Flow and Heat Dispersion Through Porous Media,
- Materials Design and Processing,
- Computational Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer,
- Transport Phenomena in Fuel Cells and Batteries
- Hydrogen Generation and Storage
- Composites in BioMedical Engineering
- Energy Conservation and Sustainability
Education
- Ph.D. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Mechanical Engineering (1987)
- B.Tech. Indian Institute of Technology Mechanical Engineering (1982)
Positions
- 2023-present,Unidel Pierre S. du Pont Chair of Engineering, University of Delaware
- 2006-2023, George W. Laird Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Delaware
- 1/00-2023, Associate Director, Center for Composite Materials, University of Delaware
- 2012- 2017, Chair, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Delaware
- 1997- 2006 Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Delaware
- 1998-1999 Interim Chair of Mechanical Engineering, University of Delaware
- 1992- 1997 Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Delaware
- 1993- 1993 Visiting Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College, London, U.K.
- 1993-1993 Visiting Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Auckland, New Zealand
- 1987- 1992 Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Delaware
- 1984-1987 Research Assistant, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
- 1985-1986 Teaching Fellow, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign