RAM KRUSHNA MOHANTA
Tempe,Arizona
Summary
Experimental plasma engineer with 6+ years of experience designing, developing, and deploying plasma diagnostic systems. Proven expertise in probe diagnostics (Langmuir, Mach, Enthalpy), optical emission spectroscopy (OES), and data acquisition. Skilled in hardware troubleshooting, scientific documentation, and applying MATLAB for complex signal processing.
Overview
9
9
years of professional experience
Work History
Assistant Research Scientist
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ, USA
04.2026 - Current
Project: Extraction of Critical Minerals from oxide using Electrochemical reduction process
- Design specialized plasma reactors for critical mineral extraction
- Plasma reduction experiments
- Determination of plasma chemistry and diagnostics using Emission spectrometer
Post-doctoral Researcher
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ, USA
01.2024 - 03.2026
Project: Direct Reduction of Iron Ore using Hydrogen Plasma for decarbonization of Steel Industry
- Experimental Design & Setup: Designed and developed non-transferred arc, transferred arc, and nanosecond pulsed (NSP) glow discharge setups for highly specialized laboratory plasma experiments.
- In-Situ Diagnostics: Setup, aligned, and calibrated in-situ diagnostic tools in varied experimental environments; utilized Optical Emission Spectroscopy (OES) (employing direct capture without a lens system for precise bulk plasma property measurement), IR cameras, and pyrometers.
- Data Acquisition & Signal Processing: Engineered electrical and spectroscopic diagnostic protocols to serve as real-time experimental indicators; heavily utilized MATLAB to process data, format technical outputs, and troubleshoot data acquisition software.
- Documentation & Collaboration: Documented complex experimental procedures, configurations, and test results, collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to prepare comprehensive technical reports and high-impact scientific documentation.
Research Fellow (Engineering)
Institute for Plasma Research
India
08.2017 - 09.2018
Project: Design and Development of Enthalpy Probe for Thermal Plasma jet Diagnostics
- Design and fabrication of a monolithic enthalpy probe
- Testing and Experiments with the designed enthalpy probe
Education
Ph.D. - Enginnering
Institute For Plasma Research
Gandhinagar, India03-2024
Master of Technology - Nuclear Science and Engineering
Delhi Technological University
New Delhi, India07-2016
Bachelor of Engineering - Electrical and Electronics Engineering
O P Jindal Institute of Technology
Raigarh, India01-2012
Skills
- Plasma Diagnostics & Probes: Langmuir Probes, Mach Probes, Enthalpy Probes, Optical Emission Spectroscopy (OES), Microwave Interferometry, High-Speed Imaging, IR Pyrometry
- Experimental Systems: DC Arc Plasmas (Transferred/Non-Transferred), Non-thermal plasma systems (NSP, RF plasma systems)
- Vacuum Systems: Vacuum chamber design, pumping capacity calculations, Vacuum parameters calculations, High heat flux analysis
- Software & Data Acquisition: MATLAB (advanced signal processing, spectroscopic calculations, image processing), AutoCAD, SolidWorks, FactSage
- Material Characterization Techniques: SEM, XRD, Electron Microprobe
Key Publications
- Mohanta, R. K., Castillo G. D. R., Korsipati S.V., et al. "Electrical and spectroscopy diagnostics as real-time metallization indicators during hydrogen plasma smelting reduction," Advanced Sustainable Systems, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1002/adsu.202501578
- Mohanta R. K. and G. Ravi, "Investigation of Subsonic to Supersonic Transition of a Low-Pressure Plasma Torch Jet," IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, Sept. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1109/tps.2022.3195448
- Mohanta, R.K., Kumawat, D., Ravi, G. et al. "Application of similarity theory to predict operational characteristics of a DC plasma torch under low-pressure condition." Eur. Phys. J. D, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/s10053-023-00677-7
- Mohanta R.K., D Kumawat, Ravi G., “Effect of chamber pressure on the output behaviour of plasma torch”, J. Appl. Phys., 2023. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0160624
- R K Mohanta, Y Korobeinikov, S Sridhar, N Leick, “Bridging the Gap in Carbon Free Iron Making – How Hydrogen Affects the Reduction of Iron Ore between 900 and 1590 °C”, ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2025, 13, 42, 17726–17732, https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.5c03402
- Process Patent (under review): Reverse polarity plasma system for extraction of critical minerals
AWARDS and RECOGNITION
- Vice Chancellor Gold Medal-Delhi Technological University, 2016
- Recipient of DAE Doctoral fellowship, BRNS, Dept. Of Atomic Energy, Govt of India, 2018
- Best Poster Presentation Award, 9th Internation Conference on Plasma Applications, 2019
- Best Oral Presentation, 75th Gaseous Electronic Conference, Sendai, Japan, 2022
- Best Paper Award, 12th Asian Thermal Spray Conference, IIT Madras, 2022
LANGUAGES
English-Fluent (Read, Write, Speak)
Hindi-Fluent (Read, Write, Speak)
Japanese-N4
Timeline
Assistant Research Scientist
Arizona State University
04.2026 - Current
Post-doctoral Researcher
Arizona State University
01.2024 - 03.2026
Research Fellow (Engineering)
Institute for Plasma Research
08.2017 - 09.2018
Ph.D. - Enginnering
Institute For Plasma Research
Master of Technology - Nuclear Science and Engineering
Delhi Technological University
Bachelor of Engineering - Electrical and Electronics Engineering
O P Jindal Institute of Technology