Students
Graduate Students
Sean received his B.S. in corrosion engineering from the University of Akron in 2017. Now, he is a graduate research assistant in the Materials Science and Engineering department. Sean is pursuing his PhD with a focus on the design and creation of low-cost compositionally complex alloys with good corrosion resistance.
Jijo Christudasjustus
Jijo is basically from Kerala but born and brought up in Gujarat, India. He finished his baccalaureate in Mechanical Engineering from Gujarat Technological University in 2015. During his Master’s degree (Industrial Metallurgy) from IIT-Roorkee, he worked on the project topic “Mechanical behavior of Aluminum-Graphene composite as a result of thermo-mechanical treatment” and received his degree in 2018. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. program under the aegis of Dr. Rajeev Gupta in Materials Science and Engineering from the North Carolina State University. His ongoing work is to understand the improvement mechanism in the corrosion and mechanical properties of Aluminum-Vanadium alloy using characterization techniques such as TEM, XPS, SIMS, FIB, SEM, and XRD. Apart from studies he is a state level soccer player. He likes to play soccer, read and explore new places during his leisure.
Sandamal Witharamage
Sandamal received his bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Moratuwa-Srilanka and a master’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Akron, Ohio. He is now pursuing his Ph.D. in materials science and engineering at North Carolina State University under the supervision of Dr. Rajeev Gupta. His Ph.D. research focuses on the study of the corrosion behavior of high-energy ball-milled aluminum vanadium alloys. Apart from studies, he enjoys traveling and watching TV series.
Venkata Bhuvaneswari (Bhuvana)
Bhuvana was born and brought up in Andhra Pradesh, India. She joined Dr. Gupta’s lab as a Graduate Research Assistant in the Department of Material Science and Engineering in Aug 2020. Her Ph.D. research attention is on “Modification of Feedstock Material to Improve Corrosion Resistance of Additively Manufactured 316L Stainless Steel”. She received her baccalaureate in Metallurgical Engineering from Andhra University College of Engineering in the year 2017. She earned her Master’s degree from the Indian Institution of Technology Roorkee (IIT-R) in the year 2019. During her Master’s, she has secured a project titled “Laser Welding on Bare and Coated Steels for Tailor Welded Blank Application” in one of India’s largest and prestigious corporate sectors, R&D, Tata Steel Plant, Jamshedpur. Besides academics, she loves singing, sports particularly badminton, and traveling.
Alex Helmer
(919) 867-7780
Alexander Helmer obtained his BS in Mechanical Engineering at University of North Florida, early studies in Materials Science inspired him to continue his education, with specific interests in metals, characterization, and failure analysis. As a third-year PhD student, Alex is focused on the corrosion mechanisms of High-Energy Ball Milled magnesium based alloys. The goal of this research is to take advantage of magnesium’s notable density to strength ratio, while maintaining a usable level of corrosion resistance.
Mohammed Al-Rizqi
Mohammed is a Master’s student. His current research is focusing on studying the corrosion behavior of additively manufactured Al-V alloy. He is also interested in additive manufacturing, corrosion initiation mechanisms, and materials development.
He loves to volunteer, inspire and help people, and be engaged in social gatherings because he believes that true happiness comes when a person gives without expecting a return. He is a long-time believer of the phrase “You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.” In the twelve years that he has been working as a volunteer, Mohammed has achieved more than 2000-hr of volunteer works. He has proudly worked with over 15 organizations around the world.
Mohammed is a member of different professional organizations such as the National Society of Corrosion Engineers NACE and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASME. He graduated in 2017 from Jubail University College and was placed in the top 10 students. In his leisure time, Mohammed enjoys playing soccer, reading biographical books, and going to social events.
Undergraduate Students
Evan DelVecchio
Evan Delvecchiois an undergraduate student in his super-senior year within the MSE program. Evan works under Sean with research in high- entropy alloys (HEAs) by preparing and performing potentiodynamic polarization (PDP) corrosion tests, and gathering data.
Kanishq Nema
Kanishq Nema is a Senior Undergraduate Student in Materials Science and Engineering at NC State with a minor in Art and Design. Additionally, he is pursuing an Accelerated Master’s in Materials Science and Engineering. He is currently working on research surrounding 316L Stainless Steel alloys made from selective laser additive manufacturing (AM), and then making comparisons of the corrosion resistance and mechanical properties between AM alloys and wrought stainless steel.