Poornima Padmanabhan

Dr. Poornima Padmanabhan is an associate professor at Rochester Institute of Technology in the Department of Chemical Engineering. She received a B. Tech in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras and her Ph.D. from Cornell University. Her research interests are in the areas of thermodynamics of soft materials, with a focus on polymers and colloids. Her group develops rational design approaches using computational methods to understand the interplay between competing thermodynamic driving forces to design materials of desired composition and length scales. She recently received an NSF CAREER award to study the interplay between chirality and thermodynamics, and to improve engineering pedagogy by designing activities targeted at improving spatial thinking skills in first year engineering students. In addition to research, she is actively involved in increasing the presence of women in STEM through outreach and engagement. Organization: Rochester Institute of Technology