EDUCATION

Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering - Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Worcester, MA, May 2000

Dissertation: “The Removal of Solid Particles from Molten Metals in the Rotating Impeller Flotation Process”.

Advisor:  Prof. M. M. Makhlouf

Melt cleanliness is an extremely important issue in the metal casting industry because of the ever-increasing demand for high quality metal products particularly for the automotive and aerospace industries.  Removal of solid inclusions from molten metal by flotation is one of the most commonly used melt treatment methods.  In this study:

·         A methodology has been developed for determining the effective use of rotating impeller particle flotation process.  The methodology is based on a thorough understanding of the physical mechanisms that underlie the development of turbulence in the melt due to the impeller rotation and the gas flow, agglomeration of colliding inclusion particles and flotation and settling of particles. 

·         A computer model that simulates the process has been developed based on the fluid flow equations and the particle dynamics and is used to determine the efficiency of the particle removal process. 

·         A statistically robust experiment has been designed to quantitatively evaluate the effect of the various process parameters on the efficiency of the particle flotation process.  

 

M.S. in Mechanical Engineering - Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama, July 1995

Thesis: “Fatigue Response of 2-D Woven Carbon-Carbon Composites”

Advisor: Prof. Hassan Mahfuz

·         Investigated the tensile-tensile fatigue damage and the effect of stress ration on the fatigue life of 2-D woven Carbon-Carbon composites.

·         Developed a statistical model to predict the fatigue life distribution of Carbon-Carbon composites.

 

M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering - Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, Bangladesh, Dec. 1989

Thesis: “Prediction of a Darrieus Wind Turbine Performance considering Dynamic Stall”

Advisor: Prof. Amalesh C. Mandal

·         Developed a fluid dynamics computer model to investigate the performance characteristics of a straight-bladed Darrieus Wind Turbine.

·         Introduced the dynamic stall phenomena into the cascade theory for wind turbines which resulted in improved prediction of the local values.

 

B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering - Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, Bangladesh, 1987

Project: Design and Fabrication of a Rotational Molding Machine

 

WORK HISTORY

June 2000 – Present - Post-Doctoral Fellow/Research Assistant Professor - Center for Heat Treating Excellence (CHTE), Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Worcester, MA

·         Managed research projects with various research teams of researchers; focused on project design, implementation and validation

o        Quenching - Understanding, Controlling and Optimizing the process:   Each year millions of dollars are lost as a result of distortion, cracking and mechanical property variations in heat treated metallic parts due to unexpected problems in the quenching process.  Objectives of this study are to:

§        Develop a fundamental understanding of the quenching heat transfer process.

§        Design, build and test a new quenching fluid characterization system to determine heat transfer coefficient as a function of metal surface temperature, surface roughness, quench fluid agitation and part geometry.

§         Develop an experimental database of heat transfer coefficients, cooling curve and other physical properties for a variety of quenching media.

o        Gas Quenching - Understanding, Controlling and Optimizing the process:   Safety and environmental considerations make gas quenching an attractive alternative to conventional liquid quenching heat treatment process. But up to now, it has not experienced wide spread implementation due to some issues restricting the introduction of this technology.  Compared with liquid quenching, the specific advantages of gas quenching include cleaner product surfaces, avoidance of need for washing the parts after quenching, and minimization of environmental problems associated with the handling and disposal of liquid quenching fluids, all these lead to lower the operating costs of a hardening heat treatment process.  Objectives of this study are to:

§         Develop a theoretical and experimental understanding of the process variables that controls the high-pressure quenching process. In addition, to determine the capability of gas quenching as compared to quenching in other media.

§         Identify and investigate the “key” issues in the design, analysis, characterization and operation of a gas quenching system.

§         Develop a numerical scheme to predict the gas quenched part’s microstructure and deformation.

·         Performed fluid dynamics simulation of quench bath/chamber to study the fluid flow distribution using commercial CFD code FLUENT.

·         Performed finite element simulation of heat treatment process to predict thermomechanical properties, microstructural evolution and part deformation using ABAQUS/DANTE.

·         Performed microstructural investigation of Electron-Beam deposited Thermal Barrier Coating using Optical and Scanning Electron Microscopy.

·         Consultancy for several companies on topics such as failure analysis and microstructural characterization.

·         Guided graduate student research as a thesis committee member.

·         Assisted graduate student to perform fluid dynamics simulation of materials processing

·         Refereed journal articles.

 

Sept. 1995 – May 2000 – Research Assistant - Advanced Casting Research Center (Formerly Aluminum Casting Research Laboratory), WPI, Worcester, MA, 1995-2000

  • Developed a methodology for particle removal in molten metal treatment using particle dynamics
  • Developed computer simulation to determine the particle removal efficiency for rotating impeller particle flotation system
  • Assisted student to run casting simulation software: Procast and Simulor
  • Assisted in teaching materials science courses such as Introduction to Materials Science and Physical Metallurgy.

 

Jan. 1993 – Aug. 1995 – Research Assistant - Tuskegee University’s Center for Advanced Materials (T-CAM) (Formerly Materials Research Laboratory), Tuskegee University, Alabama.

·         Performed Fatigue Damage Evaluation of Carbon-Carbon and Ceramic Composites using experimental and statistical approach. The work involves various aspects of destructive (mechanical) and non-destructive (ultrasonic A- and C-scans, Acoustic emission and Vibration NDE) techniques and microstructural evaluations (Optical microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy)

·         Involved with various research projects in Materials Research Laboratory such as: Fabrication of Composite Materials and Mechanical Characterizations of SiCw/SiC, SiCf/Si3N4, Carbon-Carbon Composites and Composite Fasteners.

·         Assisted to prepare project proposals to various government agencies.

·         Taught Laboratory based courses such as Computer-Aided Design (FORTRAN, AUTOCAD and ANSYS) and Experimental Mechanics

 

Aug. 1987 - Dec. 1992 - Assistant Professor/Lecturer - Mechanical Engineering Department, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, Bangladesh

·         Taught different undergraduate level courses: Engineering Mechanics, Strength of Materials, Applied Mechanics, Fluid Mechanics, Thermodynamics, Heat transfer, Applied Thermodynamics, Plastic Process Technology and Computer Programming and its applications.

·         Taught computer programming languages/software: FORTRAN, Lotus 1-2-3, dBase III, WordPerfect and PC/ARC-INFO.

·         Managed the computational facilities of Mechanical Engineering Department, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. Responsibilities were to supervise and maintain a multi-user Unix Operating System.

·         Supervised project/research of undergraduate students.

·         Involved with research work in Wind Energy (Computational), Computational Fluid Dynamics

·         Involved with different consulting services in Diesel and Petrol Engine Performance Testing, Fuel Testing, Gas Oven (65 feet long) design for Biscuit Factory, Design and Performance test of Salt Iodation Plant and some other Energy and Petroleum related works.

Lectures and laboratory instructions for Model Lab, Fuel Lab, Fluid Mechanics Lab, Solid Mechanics Lab and Heat Engine Lab.