Professor
Kripa Varanasi
Interests
- Physico-Chemical Phenomena, Thermal-Fluids, Interfaces, Electromagnetism, Electrochemistry,
- Energy, Water, Agriculture, CO2, H2
- Biointerfaces, Soft Matter, Biomanufacturing, BioMedical
Professor Varanasi News + Media
CO2 removal from oceans
The Varanasi group has been actively involved in the rapidly advancing field of CO2 research, with numerous ongoing projects encompassing capture, utilization, and conversion at scale. Leveraging our deep understanding of interfacial, electrochemical, thermal-fluid, electrostatics, soft matter phenomena, and manufacturing/scaling, we develop interdisciplinary approaches for the capture and conversion of CO2 at scale.
Biomedical Technologies for saving lives
The Varanasi Group is dedicated to developing innovative technologies aimed at addressing critical challenges within the healthcare and biomedical value chain. Our research focuses on areas such as biointerfaces, biophysics, drug delivery, medical devices, and biomanufacturing. Current projects span diverse areas including ovarian cancer, cell-surface interactions, antimicrobial surfaces, and biomanufacturing. The accompanying image depicts syringe technology designed for the precise injection of highly viscous, high-concentration biologics.
Basic Science
We are passionate about fundamental understanding. We are an interdisciplinary lab and enjoy learning the many aspects of physico-chemical phenomena. Our journey in learning has taken us through interfacial science, thermal-fluids, soft matter, electromagnetism, electrochemistry, phase transitions and biology.
Faculty Details
Education
-
1998
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY MADRAS
B.Tech. -
2002
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (MIT)
M.S. -
2004
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (MIT)
Ph.D.
Research Interests
Our mission is to solve important challenges in Climate, Energy, Biomedical, Water, Agriculture, Transportation, Consumer Products and other industries to usher in sustainable products and processes for societal and economic impact. Our approach lies in understanding and controlling fundamental physico-chemical interactions governing these phenomena, and accordingly engineer transformative solutions. Our group has over the years developed expertise in surface and interfacial science, thermal-fluids, electrostatics, phase transitions, electrochemistry, biomedical, and manufacturing approaches to scale the technologies we develop. We are problem solvers and are passionate about entrepreneurship and have formed several start-ups including Arnasi (formerly LiquiGlide), Infinite Cooling, Alsym Energy, AgZen, CoFlo Medical, to translate research from lab to market.
Bio
Kripa K. Varanasi is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT. He received his B.Tech from IIT Madras, India and his SM (ME and EECS) and Ph.D from MIT. Prior to joining MIT as a faculty member, Prof. Varanasi was a lead researcher and project leader at the GE Global Research Center. At GE he received many awards for his work including Best Patent, Best Technology Project and Leadership Award. At MIT, the focus of his work is in understanding the physico-chemical phenomena at interfaces and developing novel materials, devices, and products that can dramatically enhance performance in energy, water, agriculture, transportation, medical, and consumer devices. He is passionate about entrepreneurship and translating technologies from lab to market. He has co-founded multiple companies including LiquiGlide, Dropwise, Infinite Cooling, and Everon24. Time and Forbes Magazines have named LiquiGlide to their “Best Inventions of the Year”. His Infinite Cooling project has won first prize at DOE’s National Cleantech University Prize, first prize Rice Business Plan Competition, first prize Harvard Business School Energy & Environment Start-up, first prize at MIT-100K, first prize at MassChallenge. Prof. Varanasi has received numerous awards for his work NSF Career Award, DARPA Young Faculty Award, SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award, ASME Bergles-Rohsenow Heat Transfer Award, Boston Business Journal’s 40 under 40. ASME Gustus L. Larson Memorial Award for outstanding achievements in Mechanical Engineering, APS Milton van Dyke award, and MIT Graduate Student Council’s Frank E. Perkins Award for Excellence in Graduate Advising.
Publications
Refer to varanasi.mit.edu