Professor Thevamaran’s research focuses on advancing our fundamental knowledge of process-structure-property-function relations in structured materials such as hierarchical carbon nanotube foams and mats, gradient-nano-grained metals, polymer nanocomposites, and nonhermitian and parity-time symmetric metamaterials. His research group investigates such structured materials over a broad length- and timescales using a variety of tools such as laser-enabled microballistics, direct macroscale impact testing, vibration testing, and quasistatic compression and tension testing apparatuses along with scanning and transmission electron microscopy and high-speed microscope. His research group is primarily experimental and uses numerical and analytical techniques to guide the experiments. The key design principles developed through his fundamental research will guide the development of revolutionary materials for various engineering applications—from impact protection to controlling mechanical waves and vibrations in unprecedented ways.
Professor Thevamaran has earned a Doctor of Philosophy and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), CA and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering in Civil Engineering from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. Prior to joining University of Wisconsin, he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering of Rice University, TX.