Team

Darshan G Pahinkar

Principal Investigator

Darshan is the principal investigator of AETL and an Assistant Professor in the Mechanical and Civil Engineering Department at Florida Tech. Before joining Florida Tech, he was a post-doctoral fellow in Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and led research in interface materials for electronic packaging and materials of neuromorphic computing. He received his Ph.D. from Georgia Tech in the Fall of 2016, specializing in gas separation systems. He received his B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from the Government College of Engineering, Pune, India, in 2006 and his M.E. in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, in 2009, focusing on Thermal and Fluids. He was a manager (Development) at Tata Motors Engineering Research Center, Pune, between 2009 and 2011.

 

 

 

Mary Sharon Rose Bondugula

Ph.D. Candidate (Summer 2022 – Present)

Sharon graduated with a Bachelor of Technology in Aerospace Engineering from Karunya Institute of Technology & Sciences, India and a Master of Science in Space Engineering from Politecnico di Milano, Italy. During her bachelor's and master's programs, she worked on ignition delay studies of hydrocarbon fuels using shock tubes and hydrogen-based green propellants for future space propulsion applications. Her interest in propulsion led her to publish four papers in the electric and chemical propulsion domain. She worked with the space business operations department of DZH Dynamics in Spain and as a project analyst in Milan, Italy. Not afraid to take risks, she decided to change tracks and pursue her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Florida Tech, working on thermal energy and fluid flow. She will explore novel carbon dioxide capture technologies using adsorption and demonstrate their operation using computational and experimental techniques.

 

Samuel Babatunde Olushola 

Ph.D. Student  (Summer 2024 – Present)

Samuel completed bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from Kwara State University, Nigeria. He furthered his academic journey with a master’s degree in Thermal Power and Fluid Engineering, from the University of Manchester, UK, where worked on the Role of Artificial Intelligence in CFD. He continues to pursue his passion for thermal and fluids sciences and is currently pursuing his PhD, working on a thermally driven carbon dioxide separation system used for coverting CO2 into bio-oil. 

 Caroline McClung

M.S. Student (Summer 2024 – Present)

Caroline graduated with a bachelor of arts in Mathematics from Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. After completing her bachelors she worked as a high school math teacher until deciding to pursue engineering. She is currently an MS student in Mechanical Engineering, graduating in the summer of 2025, and is currently studying thermal and fluid sciences. Her research focuses on computational modeling of two-phase flows in microchannels. 

 

Kaleem Bocus

B.S. Student (Fall 2023 – Present)

Kaleem is currently pursuing a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with an expected graduation date in December 2026. He is CAPE scholarship winner from Trinidad and Tobago. He enjoys learning new skills and socialising. Kaleem's work focuses on developing new ideas for adsorbent coating, taking high speed flow visualization videos. 

 

 

Emmy Stevens

B.S. Student (Spring 2024 – Present)

Emmy is a sophomore/junior in Mechanical Engineering and will be graduating in Spring of 2025.  She has been accepted to fast track her Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering and will graduate with her Master’s Degree in Spring of 2026.  She hopes to work in the theme park industry as an engineer and designer in the future.  She is excited to learn new skills and gain hands-on experience in the lab that can eventually help in the industry.

 

 

Alumni

Faraz Ege

Ph.D. Student (Summer 2021 – Spring 2024)

PhD dissertation on "Fabrication and Performance Demonstration of Compact Adsorption Heat Pump". Now Senior HVAC Engineer at SAMOO Atrchitects and Engineers, TX.   

 

 

Chidinma Imediegwu

Ph.D. Student (Spring 2021 – Fall  2023)

PhD dissertation on "Advancements in Power Electronics Packaging: Investigating Novel Substrate Materials and Circuit Development Methods" Now a consultant at BCG. 

 

 

Daniel Hocheimy

M.S. Student (Spring 2023 – Spring 2024)

MS thesis on "Synthesis of Durable Zeolite 13X Insertion Coatings and Scaled-Up Experimental Demonstration for CO₂ Capture". 

 

 

 

 

Animesh Kumar Vyas

M.S. Student (Fall 2021 – Spring 2024)

MS thesis on "Energy Storage using High Performance Adsorption System". Now a PhD student at IITD. 

 

 

Kapil Sharma

M.S. Student (Fall 2021 – Spring 2024)

MS thesis on "Evaluation of Bubble Column Dehumidifier using Magnesium Chloride Desiccant".  

 

 

 

 

Juan Sebastián Rodríguez Páez

M.S. Student (Spring 2023 – Spring 2024)

MS thesis  on "Improving Static Cold Storage Life of the Human Heart before Transplant".  Now PhD student at Florida Tech. 

 

 

Nitish Chauhan

M.S. Student  (Fall 2021 – Fall 2023)

MS thesis on "Viscosity of Adsorbent Slurries for Washcoating Applications".  Now Mechanical Engineer at Jaycon. 

 

 

Nicolas Lohay

B.S. Student (Summer 2021)

Now MS student at UCF.