Ramanan Sritharan

Assistant Professor

Office: 13-267

Phone Number:  805-756-0668
Email: rsrithar@calpoly.edu

Zoom | LinkedIn | Google Scholar

Winter 2025 Office Hours: MW 5:50 PM – 6:50 PM, T 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM


SCHEDULE FOR WINTER 2025

ME 329-09

SCHEDULE FOR SPRING 2025

ME 329-09

SCHEDULE FOR SUMMER 2025

TBD

Education

  • Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Wichita State University, 2022
  • MS, Mechanical Engineering, Wichita State University, 2017
  • BE, Mechanical Engineering, Anna University, 2008

Professional Experience

  • Assistant Professor  – September 2023 – Current
    • Department of Mechanical Engineering, California Polytechnic State University, San Louis Obispo, CA
  • Post Doc Teaching Fellow  – September 2022 – August 2023
    • Department of Mechanical Engineering, California Polytechnic State University, San Louis Obispo, CA
  • Teaching and Research Assistant  – August 2018 – August 2022
    • Department of Mechanical Engineering, Multifunctional Nanocomposites Laboratory, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS
  • Design Engineer  – December 2008 – July 2018
    • Spirit Aerosystems, Mitsubishi Regional Jet, Johnson Controls, Ford Motor Company
    • Projects Worked  – Airbus A350, Boeing 737, Boeing NMA, MRJ90, 2013 Ford Fusion, 2015 Ford Edge
    • Commodities Worked  – Aircraft Structures (Composites) and Automobile Interiors (Plastics)

Research Interests

  • Analytical modeling of nanocomposites
  • Design, fabrication, and testing of composites and nanocomposites
  • Material Characterization

Publications

  • Sritharan, Ramanan; Taklimi, Sean Reza; Ghazinezami, Ali; Askari, Davood, “The Chemical Functionalization Advantages of Carbon Nano Heli-Coil Reinforcements for Multifunctional Polymeric Nanocomposites,” Journal of Composite Materials, Jan. 2025, doi:org/10.1177/j.compositesmaterials.2025.00219983251316333
  • R. Sritharan and D. Askari, “Enhancing the short-beam strength of composite laminates using helical carbon nanotubes,” Composites Part B: Engineering, 108999, May. 2021, doi:org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2021.108999
  • R. Sritharan and D. Askari, “Improvement of the tensile properties of laminated composites reinforced with Heli-Coil forms of carbon nanotubes,” Polym. Compos., vol. 44, no. 10, pp. 7070–7083, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1002/pc.27619, doi: 10.1002/pc.27619
  • Sritharan, R. and Askari, D., “A Design of Experiment Study to Investigate the Effects of Hardener Concentration, Stirring Time, and Air Bubbles on the Tensile Strength of Epoxy Resin,” Journal of Elastomers & Plastics, 2022;54(7):1129-1147, doi:10.1177/00952443221131197
  • Sritharan, R. and Askari, D., “Effects of Helical Carbon Nanotubes on Mechanical Performance of Laminated Composites and Bonded Joints,” SAE Int. J. Adv. \& Curr. Prac. in Mobility 2(3):1189-1195, 2020, doi: 10.4271/2020-01-0029
  • Sritharan, R. and Askari, D., “Interlaminar Properties Improvement of Nanocomposites Using Coiled Nanomaterials,” SAE Technical Paper 2021-01-0027, 2021, doi.org/10.4271/2021-01-0027
  • Sritharan, Ramanan; Taklimi, Sean Reza; Ghazinezami, Ali; Askari, Davood. 2018. “Mechanical Properties Improvement of Polymeric Nanocomposites Reinforced with Chemically Treated Helical Carbon Nanotubes: Influence of Sonication Time and Molarities of Nitric-Sulfuric-Hydrochloric Acids” 5th Annual Composites and Advanced Materials Expo, CAMX 2018, Paper TP18-0378
  • Sritharan, Ramanan; Askari, Davood. 2022. “Enhancement of the Mechanical Properties and Bonding of Composite Laminates and Assemblies using Carbon Nano-Coils” 9th Annual Composites and Advanced Materials Expo, CAMX 2022, DOI: 10.33599/nasampe/c.22.0137
  • Sritharan, Ramanan; Askari, Davood. 2023. “Analytical Modeling of a 3-Phase Nanocomposite Cylindrical Unit Cell with Orthotropic Constituents” 10th Annual Composites and Advanced Materials Expo, CAMX 2023, DOI: 10.33599/nasampe/c.23.0177
  • Sritharan, Ramanan; Taklimi, Sean Reza; Ghazinezami, Ali; Askari, Davood. 2024. “Chemically Treated Helical Carbon Nanotubes Reinforcement for Polymeric Nanocomposites: Influence of Sonication Time and Treatment Sequence with a Mixture of Nitric-Sulfuric- Hydrochloric Acids at High Molarities” 11th Annual Composites and Advanced Materials Expo, CAMX 2024, DOI: 10.33599/nasampe/c.24.0302

Teaching Interests

  • ME 328 – Design for Strength and Stiffness
  • ME 329 – Mechanical Systems Design
  • ME 428 – Senior Design Project I
  • ME 429 – Senior Design Project II
  • ME 430 – Senior Design Project III

Clubs and Committees

  • Advisor for Human Powered Vehicle (HPV) Club
  • Advisor for Indian Student Association (ISA)
  • ME Department’s Graduate Committee
  • ME Department’s Manufacturing Concentration Committee

Awards and Honors

  • Recipient of graduate school’s Dora Wallace Hodgson outstanding doctoral student award 2022
  • Sritharan, R. 2022. Material properties improvement of laminated composites using nanoscale reinforcements– In Proceedings: 18th Annual Symposium on Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects. Wichita, KS: Wichita State University2nd place award winner
  • Recipient of graduate school’s Dora Wallace Hodgson outstanding doctoral student award 2020
  • Sritharan, R. 2020. Application of helical carbon nanotubes for the improvement of mechanical properties of laminated composites and bonded joints — In Proceedings: 16th Annual Symposium on Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects. Wichita, KS: Wichita State University, p.611st place award winner
  • Sritharan, Ramanan, Taklimi, Sean Reza, Ghazinezami, Ali. 2019. Mechanical properties improvement of polymeric nanocomposites reinforced with chemically functionalized helical carbon nanotubes: Influence of processing time and molarities of acids — In Proceedings: 15th Annual Symposium on Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects. Wichita, KS: Wichita State University4th place award winner
  • Sritharan, R. 2019. Effects of Carbon Nanotubes Geometries on Flexural Properties and Shear Strength of Laminated Polymeric Nanocomposites — In Proceedings: The Composites and Advanced Materials Expo (CAMX) 2019, Anaheim, CA. – Third Runner Up