Meet the Team
Dr. Kausik Mukhopadhyay
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR & GROUP LEADER
Dr. Kausik Mukhopadhyay received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemistry from University of Calcutta (India) and his PhD in Chemistry from National Chemical Laboratory, Pune (India). He worked with Prof. Tom Pinnavaia’s at the Michigan State University and with Prof. Sherine Obare at the University of North Carolina for his postdoctoral studies. Thereafter, he joined industry and worked on multidisciplinary projects funded by the DOD Army, Office of Naval Research, Air Force, CBD, NASA, OSD, and DoE – for which he was the principal investigator.
Dr. Mukhopadhyay directs the Hybrid Materials Laboratory in the MSE department, where his team of young researchers are engaged in studying materials, chemistry, biology, and engineering to develop solutions for multitude of exciting research problems related to surface, coatings, films, electrochemistry (batteries and corrosion), sensors, heterogeneous catalysis and hemostatic-burn wound bandage systems for military medicine. He has spearheaded projects funded by the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA, FSRP and NASA at UCF. Dr. Mukhopadhyay is the MSE Undergraduate Lab Director and MSE representative for UCF Undergraduate Research Council for promoting undergraduate research. He is a member of the American Chemical Society, Materials Research Society, International Zeolite Association, Electrochemical Society and American Ceramic Society and Society for Biomaterials.
Google Scholar : https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=J0AU2TIAAAAJ
Suvash Ghimire
PhD Student
Suvash is a PhD student in the MSE Department at UCF. He did his Masters in Materials Science and Engineering from Montana Tech. Before that, he did his Masters in Physics from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. Currently, he is working on developing hybrid clay-based materials for sustainable energy systems and antimicrobial applications.
His hobbies include sports, traveling, and cooking!
Pritha Sarkar
Phd student
Pritha is a PhD student in the MSE Department at UCF, and a Trustees Doctoral Fellow. She completed her undergrad in Metallurgy and Materials Engineering from the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology. She is currently working on developing polymeric systems for hemostasis and wound healing.
Outside the lab, her hobbies include linguistics, art, and cooking!
Roxy Islam
PHD STUDENT
Roxy is a Ph.D. candidate at the UCF MSE Department. He attended Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) for his undergraduate studies and master’s degrees in Materials and Metallurgical engineering. He is now researching hybrid clay-based materials for use in batteries.
md319228@ucf.edu
Priyanka Makkar
POSTDOCTORAL SCHOLAR
Dr. Priyanka Makkar received her Bachelor degree in Chemistry from University of Delhi and Masters degrees in Chemistry from National Institute of Technology, India. Thereafter, she joined as the doctoral student in the Department of Chemistry at the BITS Pilani K K Birla Goa Campus, Goa (India) and received her Ph.D. in 2022. She joined as a Postdoctoral Researcher in Dr. Narendra Nath Ghosh’s group in the Department of Chemistry at BITS Pilani K K Birla Goa Campus, Goa to pursue her postdoctoral research interests in Photo responsive polymers.
Disha Iyengar
undergraduate researcher
Disha Iyengar is a freshman Biomedical Sciences major in the Honors College and Burnett Medical Scholars program at UCF. She joined the lab in Fall 2022, and is also involved with Honors Congress, Pre-Med AMSA, Knight’s Pantry, and Hearts for the Homeless. Aside from her interest in research, she enjoys acroyoga, visiting national parks, and gardening.
Lilian Hoang
undergraduate researcher
Lilian is an aspiring Medical Laboratory Scientist. With her physiology, immunology, microbiology background, and her associates in mechanical engineering, the MSE UG Lab delivers a well-rounded biomaterials team.
Aayna Bhatheja
HIGHSCHOOL RESEARCHER
Aayna Bhatheja is a junior at Lake Highland Preparatory School. She began research in this lab in the Fall of 2021. She is interested in pursuing medicine after graduating high school. Her research focuses on creating and analyzing hybrid clay films that have antibacterial properties for burn and wound treatment. Outside of research, her hobbies include singing, playing squash, and traveling.
Alumni
- Alexandre Bonnin (Graduate Intern)
- Philippe Andre (Undergraduate Researcher)
- Sergey Vlasov (Undergraduate Researcher)
- Ryan Wood (Undergraduate Researcher)
- Dr. Varchaswal Kashyap (Postdoctoral Researcher 2021 – 2022)
- Kasey Rigby (Undergraduate Researcher) – Pursuing medicine at UCF Medical School
- Annika Vaidyanathan (High School Researcher) – Enrolled in Mechanical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technolog