My primary research has centered around using electric field sensors for non-destructive testing and measurement of physical, chemical, and structural properties of materials for various industrial applications. Here are a few research projects that I have worked on.

Sensitive Skin for Prosthetic Applications

There are an average of 140,000 amputations performed annually in just the United States. For these amputees, as they go about their daily lives and activities, their residual limbs change shape and size during the course of the day leading to discomfort and surface injuries. The sensor that I am developing will help bio-mechanical engineers and doctors better understand and quantize the interfacial forces between the residual limb and prosthesis, and lead to improved quality of life for millions.

The sensor array being developed is unique in its ability to measure pressure and shearing stresses simultaneously. It is also stretchable and flexible to ensure it fits comfortably around the residual limb as it changes its shape and size during activities.

3D Moisture Distribution in Organic Materials

The need to measure moisture distribution as a function of position is omnipresent at manufacturing industries. We design distributed sensor arrays capable of imaging moisture distribution in organic materials, such as food products, paper, and chemicals.

We developed sensors that can provide 3D profile of moisture distribution in different organic matrices. The figure below shows one such profile obtained for moisture distribution profile along the depth of the sample. The data was captured at an instant where the sample had just absorbed moisture but has not had time for moisture to diffuse through the bulk.

Monitoring Chemical Reactions

Inline measurement and monitoring of chemical reactions in reactors is of critical importance to a lot of industries. We developed dielectric sensors to measure the changes in the dielectric properties of the reactants to estimate the progress of reaction and estimate the reaction rate. The unique challenge was to be able to isolate effects such as variations in temperature from the sensor data without using any other secondary sensing systems. We achieved it with some simple frequency domain data processing tricks.

On-line Control for Resin Transfer Molding Process

Advanced Resin Transfer Molding (ARTM) and Pre-Impregnated Compression Molding (PICM) are manufacturing processes that produce lightweight and high-strength parts for use in aircraft, satellites, propulsion engines, etc. Distributed non-invasive sensor arrays are needed to properly measure process parameters in real-time and provide feedback to the control system. The dielectric sensor we developed measures the position of the flow front of the resin as it flows through the mold in real time and provides feedback to the control system. The same sensors also monitor the curing process of the resin once the flow phase has been completed.

The unique feature of this sensor is that it is transparent to infra red imagers, which are currently a standard and critical part of the control architecture. The sensor is also has a self-calibrating feature built into it so that it can correct for errors at multiple stages of the flow process in real time.