PhD student wins prestigious Teets fellowship
Arkava Ganguly, a third-year PhD student in the Gupta research group, also known as the Laboratory of Interface, Flow and Electrokinetics (LIFE), has been honored withtheprestigious 2024 Teets Family Endowed Doctoral Fellowship. This highly sought-after fellowship, providing$15,000 over a two-year period, is intendedto support students engaged inresearch within the field of nanotechnology.
"The Teets fellowship gives me the independence to work on some exciting research ideas through which I hope to gain a deeper understanding of surface interactions at the colloidal scale to develop effective sequestration technologies,” Ganguly said.
Ganguly's research utilizes a combination of theoretical and computational tools to unravel the intricacies of micro- and nanoparticle motion. His specific focus lies in investigating how various factors, such as particle shape, surface heterogeneitiesand interactionsimpact not only particle movement but also their interactions with the surrounding environment and other particles.
Actively controlled micro- and nanoparticles hold vast potential in diverse fields like biomedicine and environmental remediation, said Assistant Professor Ankur Gupta, Ganguly's advisor. Ongoing developments in this domain underscore the importance of comprehending the physics behind particle propulsion and their interactions with the environment. This understanding can help engineerparticles capable of navigating complex environments, with applications rangingfrom targeted drug delivery to fine-tuning surface properties for efficiently sequestering plastics from water sources, he added.
“I am proud of Arkava for his commitment to his research as he has made contributions to several different topics in our group," Gupta said. "This award underscores his excellent progress to date.”
After completing his PhD, Gangulyenvisions a career leveraging his expertise in fluid mechanics, transport phenomenaand surface science. He aspires to focus on projects centered around sustainability and environmental remediation, aligning his skills with real-world applications.
“I would like to thank the Teets family and the College of Engineering and Applied Science for their generous support," Gangulysaid. "I would also like to thank ProfessorGupta for his mentorship and guidance. Finally, I want to thank my lab members for their help with my work and unwavering encouragement."