Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I come from the southern part of India, from a city called Coimbatore in the state of Tamil Nadu. I lived in India till my undergraduate studies and moved to Sweden for my master’s in 2021. Some of my hobbies include reading books especially genres such as crime and mystery and playing badminton. I also love to walk around the city, visit cafes and travel to different cities and countries.

What about your educational background?

My background is in Mechanical and Materials Engineering. I have an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from India, and I obtained my master’s from Chalmers University in the Materials Engineering programme. During my master’s programme, I worked with various topics such as polymer melt extrusion, biocomposites, rheology and material characterization, in the Rheology and Processing of Soft Matter Lab at Chalmers. My research interests broadly include polymeric materials, biobased materials, material processing and characterization.

What can you tell us about the new associated project you’re a part of?

Project 26* deals with the investigation of water interactions with biobased materials focusing on cellulose derivatives. I will study how different substituents in cellulose derivatives interact with water and control water cluster formation. The project will develop and maintain knowledge around characterisation methods needed to study the plasticisation of biobased materials by plasticisers such as water. Additionally, it will contribute with knowledge and skills in conducting experiments especially in different relative humidities (RH).