Saunab Ghosh
Pearland
Overview
15
15
years of professional experience
Work History
Cold Curation Scientist (PEARL Lab)
Amentum (Jacobs), JETS II Contract
Houston, TX
06.2022 - Current
- Experienced in advanced curation and lunar ices & volatiles (4 yrs).
- Cold sample curation (4 yrs).
- Expert in handling cryogens (15 yrs).
- Published one 1st author and one 2nd author article in well circulated peer-reviewed journals as a part of NASA ARES team research initiatives.
- Experienced (4 yrs) in handling LN2, dry ice and maintaining and troubleshooting -186 oC and -84 oC freezer.
- Experienced in preparing and handling ice or regolith samples under cryogenic temperature.
- Experienced in gas-phase spectroscopy (Infrared and mass spectrometry) for analyzing lunar volatiles and ice samples.
- Helping to develop cold sample storage facility for Artemis sample return.
- Developed (and published) a novel analytical system for the analysis of lunar gas samples (water, CO2, methanol, ammonia, etc.) by a standalone cost-efficient device with 500 ppm minimum detection limit.
- Development of multiple projects (dedicated for publication) related to volatile rich lunar simulant sample storing at cryogenic temperatures.
- Possess significant experience in working with cold and/or cryogenic samples (4 yrs) and processing advantageous, general experience with volatiles.
- Possess a track record of developing and completing creative solutions is desirable as well.
- Project development and completion/ Successful reporting.
Postdoctoral Research Associate
RICE UNIVERSITY, Dept. Of Electrical & Computer Eng
Houston, TX
07.2019 - 09.2020
- Advisor: Prof. Junichiro Kono (Chair of Applied Physics)
- Significantly improved fabrication of wafer-scale films of highly aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes of single chirality
Research Scientist
RICE UNIVERSITY, Department Of Chemistry
Houston, TX
09.2014 - 06.2019
- Advisor: Prof. Andrew R. Barron (Ex. Welch Chair of Chemistry)
- Discovered a new type of oxygen-rich porous carbon material that demonstrates 3 times greater CO2 capturing capacity from a very inexpensive chemical source. This work funded by Apache Corp. Houston has resulted in one US Patent: Method, synthesis, activation procedure and characterization of an oxygen-rich porous carbon sorbent for selective removal of CO2. Ghosh, S. et al., 2019, 10376861
- Collaborated with EMD Performance Materials Corp, NJ, for industrial-scale production and commercial use
- Published research findings at four high-impact peer-reviewed journals
Scientific Consultant
ENSYSCE BIOSCIENCE
Houston, TX
09.2014 - 05.2015
- Successfully performed research on bio-compatible surfactant coated carbon nanotube samples for therapeutic cancer drug delivery and characterized samples by different microscopic techniques
Welch Postdoctoral Research Associate
Rice University, Dept. Of Chemistry
Houston, TX
09.2011 - 08.2014
- Developed a simple but effective purification method that uses permanent magnets to remove nanotube aggregates and residual metallic catalyst from suspension of surfactant coated tubes (link)
- Established a novel relation between temperature of defunctionalization and the structure functionalized nanotubes (link)
Education
Ph.D. - Chemistry
Rice University
Houston, TX08-2008
M.S. - Chemistry
West Texas A&M University
Canyon, TX05-2005
M.S. - Physics
University of Calcutta
Calcutta, IndiaB.S. - Physics
University of Calcutta
Calcutta, IndiaSkills
- Cryogen handling and cold curation
- Analysis and detection of lunar volatiles
- Chemical analysis: X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), BET surface area analysis, Mass Spectroscopy
- Optical Spectroscopy: Near infrared (NIR) , Ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS), FTIR, Fluorescence spectroscopy
- Microscopy: Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and EDX, Raman microscopy (RAMAN), High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Atomic force microscopy (AFM), Optical microscopy
- Software: PYTHON, MATLAB, ChemDraw, Gaussian, Origin Lab, Sigmaplot, Peak-fit, Microsoft Office
Timeline
Cold Curation Scientist (PEARL Lab)
Amentum (Jacobs), JETS II Contract
06.2022 - Current
Postdoctoral Research Associate
RICE UNIVERSITY, Dept. Of Electrical & Computer Eng
07.2019 - 09.2020
Research Scientist
RICE UNIVERSITY, Department Of Chemistry
09.2014 - 06.2019
Scientific Consultant
ENSYSCE BIOSCIENCE
09.2014 - 05.2015
Welch Postdoctoral Research Associate
Rice University, Dept. Of Chemistry
09.2011 - 08.2014
M.S. - Chemistry
West Texas A&M University
B.S. - Physics
University of Calcutta
Ph.D. - Chemistry
Rice University
M.S. - Physics
University of Calcutta
Professional Summary
- Possess 20+ years of experience in industrial collaborative research in the fields of Nanotechnology, Analytical Chemistry, Spectroscopy (FTIR, IR, NIR, UV-VIS, XPS), Microscopy (SEM, TEM, HRTEM, EDX, RAMAN, AFM) Expert in analyzing carbonaceous materials (growth and characterization) and CO2 capture technology with one U.S. Patent for innovative industrial research (10376861). Authored 30 Research Publications, 2 first author publications in Science and Nature Nanotechnology, 2400+ citations, presented at 10+ Research Conferences and recipient of 6 Research Awards Highly proficient in developing new research ideas and writing research grants which resulted in successful funding from the oil and gas industry.
- Currently working on applications of cold curation techniques related Artemis sample return mission via cryogenic sample storage testing, techniques for ice production, characterization of lunar volatiles in regards to designing cold curation systems, research and/or missions for enhancing NASA capabilities.
SELECTED RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS
- Total Publications: 30, Total Citations: 2200, Link: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=lWFOp14AAAAJ&hl=en
- Ghosh S., McCubbin, F. M., Bravenec, A. D., Huh, M. C., Amick, C. L., Harris, C. L., Lewis, E, K., Allums-Spencer, K. K., Gross, J., Zeigler, R. A., Erickson, T. M., Davidson, J., Boyce, J. W., "Gas-phase infrared spectroscopy as a reconnaissance tool for the preliminary examination of H2O abundances in icy regolith samples returned from the Moon and beyond", Acta Astronautica, 2026, 247, 25-37.
- Amick C. L., Ghosh S., Mantilla C. A., Lewis, E, K., Harris, C. L., Bravenec, A. D., Huh, M. C., Boyce J. W., "Hydrogen sulfide consumption by lunar regolith simulants", Icarus, 2026, 451, 117004.
- Ghosh, S., Bachilo, S. M., Simonette, R. A., Beckingham, K. M., Weisman R. B., “Oxygen Doping Modifies Near Infrared Band Gaps in Fluorescent Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes”, Science, 2010, 330, 1656-1659. (Cited 450 times, Journal Impact factor: 45)
- Ghosh, S, Bachilo, S. M., Weisman R. B., “Advanced Sorting of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes by Nonlinear Density Gradient Ultracentr.ifugation”, Nature Nanotechnology, 2010, 5, 443-450. (Cited 750 times, Impact factor: 35)
- US Patent: Ghosh, S. et al., Method, synthesis, activation procedure and characterization of an oxygen-rich porous carbon sorbent for selective removal of CO2. 2019, No. 10376861
HONORS & AWARDS
- US Permanent Residency (Green Card) in the Category of Extraordinary Ability APR. 2014
- Research Award for the Best Thesis: John L. Margrave Thesis Award, Rice University May 2012
- Research Award for the Best Research Performance: Norman Hackerman Fellowship, Rice University May 2011
- Research Award for the Best Oral Presentation: RQI Annual Research Colloquium Award, Rice University Jun. 2011
- Research Award for Significant Published Work: Harry B. Weiser Research Award, Rice University May 2010
- Research Award for the Best Oral Presentation: RQI Annual Research Colloquium Award, Rice University Jun. 2010
- Graduate Research Fellowship: Welch Foundation and Dept. of Chemistry, Rice University Aug. 2005 - Aug. 2011
SELECTED CONFERENCES
- Total no. of conferences attended and presented 14
- Lunar and Planetary Science Conferences, (2025), Abstract #1211, (2024), Abstract #2026, (2023), Abstract #1596
- Electrochemical Society Meetings, 2009-2014.