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Education

• University of California, Berkeley, USA
  Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering, GPA: 4.0/4.0
  Advisors: Prof. Joshua S. Apte and Prof. Robert A. Harley
  2021–Present

• University of California, Berkeley, USA
  M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, GPA: 4.0/4.0
  2021–2022

• Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal University, India
  B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering, GPA: 9.82/10.0
  2014–2018

Research Experience

• University of California, Berkeley | Graduate Student Researcher

  Berkeley, CA | Apte Research Group | Fall 2021 - Present

  Data-driven modeling and Assimilation Methods for Enhancing Urban Air Quality

  • Develops a statistical framework that integrates mobile and fixed-site pollutant measurements to generate high-resolution pollutant concentration fields, improving spatial coverage and temporal completeness.
  • Implements an advanced inverse modeling approach that assimilates data from diverse monitoring strategies to enable hyper-local Bayesian correction of pollutant emission estimates.
  • Designs an optimal mitigation framework to identify control strategies that achieve ambient air quality standards with minimal emissions reductions while maximizing equity and climate co-benefits.

• Indian Institute of Technology Delhi | Research Associate

  Delhi, India | Air Quality Research Group | Summer 2018 - Summer 2021

  Source Apportionment Analysis for Quantifying Variation in Sources of Ambient PM2.5 during Periods of Marked Variation in Anthropogenic Activities in Delhi

  • Investigated the variation in chemical composition and sources contributing to ambient PM2.5 during a major firework event (Diwali) and the COVID-induced lockdown, utilizing near-real-time elemental and organic particulate measurements.
  • PMF-based source apportionment analysis identified fireworks as the primary contributor, responsible for more than 95 percent of total elemental PM2.5 during the Diwali event. Additionally, during the last phase of the COVID lockdown, oxidized primary organic aerosol (OPOA) constituted over 40 percent of total organic PM2.5, attributed to elevated O3 concentrations.

  On-road Exposure to Particulate Matter in New Delhi

  • Carried out on-road measurements to investigate in-vehicle exposure to particulate matter in Delhi, examining the influence of congestion intensity, land-use patterns, and vehicular speed on particulate levels.
  • Compared on-road measurements with predicted PM levels at each site, employing imputation and low-rank estimation techniques to account for missing data from monitoring stations across Delhi. This estimation provided an assessment of the actual risk associated with on-road exposure to particulate matter, considering values beyond average levels recorded at monitoring stations.

• Nanyang Technological University Singapore | Research Associate

  Singapore | School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering | Spring 2018 - Summer 2018

  Non-Invasive Detection of Stenosis in Human Carotid Arteries

  • Conducted high-resolution transient simulations utilizing High-Performance Computing (HPC) nodes to investigate the detection of stenosis in human carotid arteries. Discovered that the Strouhal number associated with a vortex in the shear layer downstream of the stenosed region varied with the degree of stenosis. This variation was identified as a distinct thermal signature that could be extracted from the neck surface.
  • Correlated this variation with the temperature distribution on the neck surface, employing both numerical and experimental approaches. Utilized thermography and a Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm to distinguish between patients with and without stenosis.

  Numerical Modeling of Human Skin Subject to Transient Heating/Cooling Cycles

  • Conducted a comprehensive numerical study to examine the effect of external excitation duration (heating/cooling) and the relaxation period between consecutive excitation cycles on the depth of penetration of heating/cooling in human skin.

Scholarships and Awards

• Jane Warren Award – Health Effects Institute, 2025
• JN Tata Gift Award – Tata Education and Development Trust, 2025
• Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award – UC Berkeley, 2024
• *STEMFYI Graduate Diversity Fellow** – UC Berkeley, 2023
• Founder’s Gold Medal for the Best Outgoing Student – Manipal University, 2018
• NTU India Connect Scholar – Nanyang Technological University Singapore, 2018
• Summer Undergraduate Research Grant for Excellence – Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, 2017
• Avery Dennison InvEnt Scholar – Avery Dennison Foundation, 2015
• 4× Academic Excellence Award – Manipal University, 2014–2018

Teaching

• Graduate Student Instructor at UC Berkeley | Fall 2023
  Air Quality Engineering (CE 218A)

• Teaching Assistant at Manipal University | Fall 2017
  Applied Thermodynamics (MME 2201)

• Teaching Assistant at Manipal University | Spring 2017
  Computer-Aided Mechanical Drawing (MME 2216)