Assistant Professor
Founder and Director of the Multifunctional Materials Lab
Office: 13-267
Phone Number: 805-756-0668
Email: rsrithar@calpoly.edu
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Fall 2026 Office Hours: TBD
ME 329
TBD
TBD
- Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Wichita State University, 2022
- MS, Mechanical Engineering, Wichita State University, 2017
- BE, Mechanical Engineering, Anna University, 2008
Professional Experience
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Assistant Professor
– September 2023 – Current
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, California Polytechnic State University, San Louis Obispo, CA
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Post Doc Teaching Fellow
– September 2022 – August 2023
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, California Polytechnic State University, San Louis Obispo, CA
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Teaching and Research Assistant
– August 2018 – August 2022
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Multifunctional Nanocomposites Laboratory, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS
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Design Engineer
– December 2008 – July 2018
- Boeing, 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 – Multifunctional Materials Lab
- Analytical modeling of nanocomposites
- Design, fabrication, and testing of composites and nanocomposites
- Material Characterization
Publications
- R. Sritharan, S. Reza Taklimi, A. Ghazinezami, and D. Askari, “The chemical functionalization advantages of carbon nano heli-coil reinforcements for multifunctional polymeric nanocomposites,” Journal of Composite Materials, vol. 59, no. 14, 2025, doi: 10.1177/00219983251316333
- R. Sritharan and D. Askari, “Enhancing the short-beam strength of composite laminates using helical carbon nanotubes,” Composites Part B: Engineering, vol. 215, no. 108999, May 2021, doi: 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
- R. Sritharan and D. Askari, “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, vol. 54, no. 7, pp. 1129-1147, 2022, doi: 10.1177/00952443221131197
- R. Sritharan and D. Askari, “Effects of Helical Carbon Nanotubes on Mechanical Performance of Laminated Composites and Bonded Joints,” SAE Int. J. Adv. \& Curr. Prac. in Mobility, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 1189–1195, 2020, doi: 10.4271/2020-01-0029
- R. Sritharan, S. R. Taklimi, A. Ghazinezami, and D. Askari, “Mechanical properties improvement of polymeric nanocomposites reinforced with chemically treated helical carbon nanotubes: Influence of sonication time and molarities of nitric-sulfuric-hydrochloric acids,” in Proc. CAMX 2018 – Composites and Advanced Materials Expo, Dallas, TX, USA, 2018, Paper TP18-0378
- R. Sritharan and D. Askari, “Interlaminar properties improvement of nanocomposites using coiled nanomaterials,” SAE Technical Paper 2021-01-0027, presented at the AeroTech Conference, Mar. 2021, doi: 10.4271/2021-01-0027
- R. Sritharan and D. Askari, “Enhancement of the mechanical properties and bonding of composite laminates and assemblies using carbon nano-coils,” in Proc. CAMX 2022 – Composites and Advanced Materials Expo, Anaheim, CA, USA, 2022, doi: 10.33599/nasampe/c.22.0137
- R. Sritharan and D. Askari, “Analytical modeling of a 3-phase nanocomposite cylindrical unit cell with orthotropic constituents,” in Proc. CAMX 2023 – Composites and Advanced Materials Expo, Atlanta, GA, USA, 2023, doi: 10.33599/nasampe/c.23.0177
- R. Sritharan, S. R. Taklimi, A. Ghazinezami, and D. Askari, “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,” in Proc. CAMX 2024 – Composites and Advanced Materials Expo, San Diego, CA, USA, 2024, doi: 10.33599/nasampe/c.24.0302
- R. Sritharan and D. Askari, “Laminated nanocomposites and nano-reinforced adhesively bonded joints with improved mechanical performance and adhesion,” in Proc. SAMPE 2025 Conference and Exhibition, Indianapolis, IN, USA, 2025, doi: 10.33599/nasampe/s.25.0250
- C. J. Hawkins and R. Sritharan, “Finite element verification of transverse mechanical properties in 3-phase carbon nanotube nanocomposites unit cell,” in Proc. CAMX 2025 – Composites and Advanced Materials Expo, Orlando, FL, USA, 2025, doi: 10.33599/nasampe/c.25.42
- C. A. Bentley, L. A. Granillo, and R. Sritharan, “Enhancement of the open hole tension properties of the nanocomposites using carbon nano-coils,” in Proc. CAMX 2025 – Composites and Advanced Materials Expo, Orlando, FL, USA, 2025, doi: 10.33599/nasampe/c.25.39
- E. Gaigalas, Z. Kelemen, and R. Sritharan, “Impact properties improvement of nanocomposites using various carbon nanotubes geometries,” in Proc. CAMX 2025 – Composites and Advanced Materials Expo, Orlando, FL, USA, 2025, doi: 10.33599/nasampe/c.25.40
- N. M. Bedagkar and R. Sritharan, “Impact of composite materials research on underrepresented communities,” in Proc. CAMX 2025 – Composites and Advanced Materials Expo, Orlando, FL, USA, 2025, doi: 10.33599/nasampe/c.25.41
- J. Liang, W. Barnes, and R. Sritharan, “Comparison of ultrasound-hot plate and high-shear centrifugal mixing techniques for fabricating CNT-reinforced nanocomposite panels,” in Proc. SAMPE 2026 Conference and Exhibition, Seattle, WA, USA, 2026, doi: 10.33599/nasampe/s.26.93
Teaching Interests
- ME 328/3328 – Design for Strength and Stiffness
- ME 329/3329 – Mechanical Systems Design
- ME 401/4401 – Stress Analysis/Advanced Strength of Materials
- ME 428/4460 – Senior Design Project I
- ME 429/4461 – 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 Constant J. Chrones and Dorothy F. Chrones Endowed Professorship award AY 2025-2027
- Recipient of graduate school’s Dora Wallace Hodgson outstanding doctoral student award 2022
- R. Sritharan, “Mechanical properties improvement of laminated composites using nanoscale reinforcements,” poster presented at the 18th Annual Symposium on Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects (GRASP 2022), Wichita State University, Wichita, KS, USA, 2022. – Awarded 2nd Place and Best Engineering Poster
- Recipient of graduate school’s Dora Wallace Hodgson outstanding doctoral student award 2020
- R. Sritharan, “Application of helical carbon nanotubes for the improvement of mechanical properties of laminated composites and bonded joints,” poster presented at the 16th Annual Symposium on Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects (GRASP 2020), Wichita State University, Wichita, KS, USA, 2020. – Awarded 1st Place and Best Engineering Poster
- R. Sritharan, S. R. Taklimi, and A. Ghazinezami, “Mechanical properties improvement of polymeric nanocomposites reinforced with chemically functionalized helical carbon nanotubes: Influence of processing time and molarities of acids,” poster presented at the 15th Annual Symposium on Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects (GRASP 2019), Wichita State University, Wichita, KS, USA, 2019. – Awarded Best Engineering Poster and 4th Place
- R. Sritharan, “Effects of carbon nanotubes geometries on flexural properties and shear strength of laminated polymeric nanocomposites,” poster presented at the Composites and Advanced Materials Expo (CAMX 2019), Anaheim, CA, USA, 2019. – Awarded 3rd Runner-Up