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 Materials Science and Metallurgy 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.
He is interested in developing nanostructured thin films of functional materials using the techniques of pulsed laser deposition and sputter deposition.
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. Additionally, he is working on developing printed electronic
devices from the inks of functional materials such as thermoelectrics.
In his spare time, Abhijeet enjoys listening to music, watching movies and playing badminton.
Post-doctoral fellows
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.
Ph.D. students
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.
Varad N. Joshi
Ph.D. student; Main supervisor: Professor Ashutosh S. Gandhi, MEMS, IIT Bombay
Varad joined the group as a PhD student in September 2023. His research is focused on the electronic
and thermoelectric properties of high-entropy spinel oxides in both bulk and thin-film forms. Varad
investigates the underlying physics behind the origin of these properties, exploring the complex
interactions and mechanisms that give rise to advanced electronic and transport behaviours in these materials.
Varad has completed his M.Sc. (Physics) from Fergusson College, Pune. During his master's, he worked on
CaCl2-doped Gallium-substituted Nickel-Zinc ferrites for humidity sensing applications.
Outside of research, Varad enjoys playing the Pakhwaj and listening to Hindustani classical music,
and also likes to play cricket and ring tennis.
Srishti Keshari joined the group as Ph.D student in September 2025. Her research focuses on developing advanced memory
devices for neuromporphic computing.
She has earned bachelor's and masters degree in chemistry where she built expertise in materials science and nanoscale
systems. Her current doctoral work integrates her chemical knowledge with emerging neuromorphic technologies to explore
novel approaches for high-performance, scalable memory architectures.
Outside of research, she enjoys doodling and swimming.
M.Tech./Dual Degree (B.Tech. + M.Tech.) students
Raveesh Raghunadhan
M.Tech. student (2026)
Raveesh joined the group as a M.Tech student in June 2025.He is working on comparative study
of thin film growth of ferroelectric materials using Nd:YAG and KrF excimer laser in Pulsed Laser Deposition.
Raveesh completed his bachelors from Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT-Mumbai) in 2021 and worked in Bajaj
Auto as Assistant Manager before pursuing his Masters.
He is an avid football enthusiast and loves to read books on history, business and learn new languages.
Tanay Srivastava
M.Tech. student (2026)
Tanay joined the group as an M.Tech student in June 2025. He is working on the growth of free-standing thin
films/membranes from epitaxial thin films for various devices, using Sr₃Al₂O₆ (Strontium Aluminate) as a sacrificial layer.
He completed his B.Tech. in Materials Engineering from IIT Jammu in 2024, where his project focused on High Entropy Oxides
for thermal barrier coating applications, before joining IIT Bombay for his Master’s.
Tanay is passionate about music, especially playing the guitar and singing, and enjoys expressing creativity
through melodies.
Srujana Venkata Gowri Kasi
M.Tech. student (2026)
Srujana joined the group from June, 2025. She is working on developing flexible wearable thermoelectric composites.
She graduated with a B.Tech. in Materials Engineering in 2024 from IIT Jammu.
Her hobbies include reading books, playing badminton and writing poems.
