Bio: Abhijeet did his B.Tech. and M.Tech. (5-year dual degree) in Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science
with specialisation in Ceramics and Composites from IIT Bombay. After his graduation from IIT Bombay in 2011, he joined
Department of Metallurgical Engineering at University of Cambridge for his doctoral studies in Professor Judith L. MacManus-
Driscoll's research group. He worked on nanostructured SrTiO3 thin films, tuning their properties of films for
tunable high frequency devices and photoelectrochemical water splitting.
Following his doctoral studies, Abhijeet worked in Professor Sohini Kar-Narayan's group, researching on aerosol-jet printed
flexible thermoelectric films for energy haresting and temperature sensing applications. He developed bespoke inks of various
thermoelectric materials.
Later, Abhijeet returned to India and in 2018 joined Applied Materials India Pvt. Ltd. in the CTO office to work on developing large
area deposition of piezoelectric films. Following his over three-year stint at Applied Materials India, he joined IIT Goa
as an Assistant Professor in April 2021.
Abhijeet returned to his alma mater, IIT Bombay, in March 2022, as an Assistant Professor and has since been working in this role.
His current research focusses on developing nanostructured thin films of functional materials using state-of-the-art
pulsed laser deposition facilities equipped with excimer and solid-state lasers in the Department of Metallurgical Engineering
and Materials Science. He is working on various VAN thin films for various electronic applications such as ferroelectric memories, energy
storage devices, piezoelectric/thermoelectric sensors and energy harvesters.
In his spare time, Abhijeet enjoys listening to music, watching movies and playing badminton.
Dr. Ajay Kumar
Institute Post-Doctoral Fellow
Ajay joined the group as an Institute Post-Doctoral Fellow in January 2024. He is working on developing
various nanostructured Printed electrodes for solid-state batteries, supercapacitors, and photoelectrocatalytic applications.
Ajay holds a PhD degree in materials science from the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi, India. During his PhD,
he worked on the thesis titled ‘’Conjugated Polymer Nanocomposites for Electrochemical Hydrogen Productions and Supercapacitor
Applications” under the supervision of Prof. Rajiv Prakash.
Ajay likes to explore new things, travel, play badminton and football, and listen to music in his free time.
Sukhamoy Khilari
Ph.D. student
Sukhamoy joined the group as a Ph.D. student in January 2023. He is working on developing various nanostructured
Pb-free ferroelectric thin films using pulsed laser deposition.
Sukhamoy holds an M.Tech. in Materials Engineering from the University of Hyderabad. During his master's,
he worked on the thesis titled ‘’Synthesis of Lead-Free BCZT-NBT Ceramics and Characterization for Structural,
Electrical and Mechanical Properties” under the supervision of Prof. Dibakar Das.
In his leisure, Sukhamoy likes to read novels, play football and listen to music.
Shibashis joined the group as a (B.Tech. + M.Tech.) dual degree project student in June 2023.
Shibashis's project focuses on developing nanocomposite thermoelectrics (bulk and thin films)
and analyzing their properties. He is co-supervised by Prof. Amrita Bhattacharya of the MEMS
department.
Shibashis has a strong passion for machine learning and coding.
Himanshu joined the group as a (B.Tech. + M.Tech.) dual degree project student in June 2023.
Himanshu's area of interest lies in film deposition and characterization. He is co-supervised
by Prof. Triratna P. Muneshwar from the MEMS department. His research focuses on studying the
variation in electrical properties of oxide thin films in Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) configuration.
In his free time, Himanshu enjoys watching movies, listening to music, and playing cricket.
Divya Nikam
Research Project Intern
Divya joined the group in January 2024 as a Intern under the prestigious IIT Bombay Research Internship Awards.
Currently, She is working on 'The development of Bespoke inks of various functional materials for Printed Electronics.'
Divya is a Chemistry graduate. She is pursuing an MSc in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at the University of Mumbai.
During her master's, she worked on 'Growth of oxides on a flexible substrate for optoelectronic devices using pulsed
laser deposition' under the guidance of Dr Suhas Jejurikar.
In her free time she enjoys cooking and painting.
Samarth Sharma
B.Tech. Project student
Samarth is a senior undegraduate student in Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science department
at IIT Bombay. He is currently working on fabrication of lead-free ferroelectric
thin films using pulsed laser deposition.
During the summer of 2023, Samarth worked as an intern at the University of Oxford,
growing and characterizing bismuth oxyiodide (BiOI) thick films for radiation detection
at the Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory under the supervision of Prof. Robert Hoye.
Siddhant Kalel
iSURP (in-Semester Undegraduate Research Program) student
Siddhant Kalel is a fourth-year undergraduate pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Metallurgical Engineering
and Materials Science from IIT Bombay. He is working developing bespoke inks of functional materials
under an i-SURP project.
He has a keen interest in interdisciplinary research fields,
including Materials Science, AI/ML, Biotechnology, and Chemical Engineering applications.
During the summer of 2023 Siddhant interned at Simon Fraser University in Canada, where he worked
on spinal cord injury modelling, gaining valuable learning experiences.
Apart from his academic pursuits, he enjoys playing guitar and engaging in sports such as cricket
and table tennis.
Alumni
Dr. Krishnarjun Bannerjee Institute Post-doctoral Fellow from December 2022 - November 2023.
Presently a Marie Curie Post-doctoral Fellow at Queen Mary University London, U.K.
Amir Khan Research Project Intern (IIT Bombay Research Internship Awardee) from December 2022 - June 2023.
Presently a Project Associate at IIT Kanpur, India.
