Karthik

EDUCATION:

Master of Science in Chemical Engineering August 2002-August 2004
University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
Master of Science (Hons.) (Economics) August 1997-May 2002
Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India.
Bachelor of Engineering (Hons.) (Chemical Engineering) August 1997-May 2002
Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India.

RESEARCH PROJECTS AT VRI:

Algorithms, Methods and Tools
Security and Sustainability
Energy and Environment
Manufacturing, Planning and Management
Materials and Molecular Modeling

RECENT PROJECTS:

Phase 1:

Process design, simulation and optimization of the highly efficient, near zero CO₂ emission Integrated Gasification Combined cycle (IGCC) Steam Turbine/ Gas Turbine/ Fuel Cell Power Plant using the ASPEN Plus Simulation Tool.
Modeling of a dynamic hot-gas transport desulfurizer module in FORTRAN.
Development of cost model for the hybrid power plant and preparation of cost estimates.
Identification of objectives to be optimized and of decision variables to be used in the optimization through partial rank correlation coefficient (PRCC) sensitivity analysis.
Construction and implementation of the Multi-Objective Optimization framework to obtain optimal objectives.
Quantification and Characterization of uncertainties associated with different sources.
Propagation of the uncertainty through the Multi-Objective optimization framework.
Analysis and implementation of the "Value of Research" methodology.
Implementation of Stochastic simulation capability into GREET (Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation) model using Visual Basic macro in Excel (Project done for Argonne National Labs).

Phase 2:

Process design and simulation of Reversible Fuel Cell power system.
Dynamic simulation of Solid oxide fuel cell, water electrolyzer and hydrogen storage using Aspen Custom Modeler software.
Development of cost model for the hybrid power plant and preparation of cost estimates.
Propagation of the uncertainty through the Multi-Objective optimization framework to obtain the stochastic objectives.

PUBLICATIONS:

Paper Published in the Journal of Power Sources Titled "Multi-Objective Optimization for Hybrid Fuel Cells Power System under Uncertainty", Volume 132, Issues 1-2, 20 May 2004, Pages 99-112.
Paper accepted for publication in the Journal of Power Sources Titled "Characterization and Quantification of uncertainty in solid oxide fuel cell hybrid power plants".
Paper submitted for publication in the Industrial Engineering & Chemistry Research Titled "The 'Value of Research' methodology and hybrid power plant design".
Paper titled "The 'Value of research' Methodology and the quantification and characterization of uncertainty" presented in INFORMS Annual Conference held in Denver, Colorado.
Paper titled "Multi-objective optimization under uncertainties of hybrid fuel cell power plants" presented in AIChe spring Meeting held in New Orleans, LA.
Paper titled "Reducing uncertainties of hybrid fuel cell power plants through better models" presented in the INFORMS conference held at Northwestern University.
Paper titled "Effect of uncertainties on Multi-objective designs of hybrid fuel cells power system" presented in the AIChe Annual Meeting held in San Francisco, CA.
Poster titled "Fuel Cell Design: multi-objective optimization under uncertainty" presented in the Institute for Environmental Science Policy (IESP) conference, Chicago, IL.
Paper titled "The 'Value of Research' methodology and hybrid power plant design" accepted for publication in the Industrial Engineering Research Chemistry journal.
Paper titled "Use of wavelet transforms in de-noising data" Presented in the All-India young engineers meet held at Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

R & D Engineer, Center for Uncertain Systems:Tools for Optimization and Management (CUSTOM), UIC

August 2002 - till date

Process Design, dynamic modeling, optimization and development of cost models under uncertainty of hybrid fuel cell power plants and later zero emission fuel cell / steam turbine / gas turbine power plants and also worked as the network administrator for the CUSTOM computer lab.

Process Analysis Specialist, Credit Rating Information Services of India Ltd.

August 2001 - December 2001

Detailed analysis of the viability of a petrochemical process design in a Government-owned factory in the state of Karnataka, India based on: Feasibility, Economics & Finance, Safety & Risk and Environmental standards. My recommendations were well appreciated and based on them, the project was approved.

Summer Intern, Solidaire India Ltd., India

May 1999 - August 1999

Assisted in the design of the 5 check cycle process for the manufacture of of printed circuit boards (PCBs) and was in-charge of the optimization of the movement of a surface mounting device used to load components like transistors, chips etc. on printed circuit boards. This project helped me learn the basics of process design and optimization.

MAJOR UNDERGRADUATE PROJECTS:

Thesis: Data Reconciliation Using Wavelet Transform

Investigation into the use of wavelet transform in de-noising of data used for analysis from a chemical process and development of a software tool in 'C' to demonstrate the efficiency of wavelet transform for this purpose.

Risk Assessment of Petrochemical Facilities:

HazOp study (investigating how a plant might deviate from design intent) of various risks involved in petrochemical facilities, study of various risk analysis tools and recommendation of solutions to minimize these risks.

Investigation into Chemical Vapor Deposition:

Study of the process of Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), thin film growth on substrates and the types of reactors involved and a detailed investigation into the process of deposition of silicon onto substrates through CVD.

COMPUTER SKILLS:

Simulation tools: ASPEN Engineering Suite, Crystal ball TSUPREM-4 (simulation of micro-electronic processes)
Operating Systems: Windows 9x/NT/XP, MS-DOS
Programming Languages: FORTRAN, C, Visual Basic.NET
Typesetting: Latex, MS Word
Mathematical Software: MATLAB, GAMS, MathCAD, MAPLE
Other: MS PowerPoint, Excel, Pro2001 (Financial Software)

RELEVANT GRADUATE COURSEWORK:

Chemical Courses:

Fluid Phase Equilibria
Transport Phenomena
Chemical Reaction Engineering
Separation Systems
Fundamentals and design of microelectronics processing

Computer Courses:

Data structures and algorithms
Operating Systems
Computer Networks
Visual Age for Java

Math Courses:

Numerical Methods in Chemical Engineering
Computer Applications in Chemical Engineering
Numerical Methods for Partial Differential Equations

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP:

American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).
Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS).
Center for Uncertain Systems: Tools for Optimization and Management (CUSTOM).

ACADEMIC HONORS AND LEADERSHIP ACTIVITIES:

Recipient of merit based tuition and fee waiver for the full term of graduate study.
Winner of merit scholarship for four years of the undergraduate education.
Sergeant Officer in National Cadet Corps, Army Wing, INDIA, (1994-95). A cadet is chosen as a 'Sergeant officer' by the Sub Lieutenant In-Charge based on the merit of execution and delegation of order.

Karthik Subramanyan