Varada Menon Palakkal
Canton,MA
Summary
Goal-oriented professional with expertise in polymer engineering, nanocomposites, and electrochemical separations for water treatment and energy storage applications. Strong leadership skills demonstrated through managing collaborative projects, securing funding, and leading research teams. Excellent communication skills proven by presentations at national and international meetings.
Overview
4
4
years of professional experience
Work History
Senior Research Scientist
Sublime Systems
Somerville, MA
11.2022 - Current
- Spearheaded the electrochemistry department, pioneering the development of energy-efficient electrochemical cells tailored for low carbon cement production.
- Played a pivotal role in the company's Intellectual Property (IP) committee, overseeing and supervising IP application processes.
- Aided in securing a $6.7 million grant funding from Department of Energy through groundbreaking advancements in our electrochemical process for producing decarbonized cement.
Lead Research & Development Engineer
Phuc Labs
Boston, MA
06.2021 - 11.2022
- Led a team conducting filterless wastewater treatment using artificial intelligence and machine learning
- Designed systems for the separation of components in lithium-ion battery recycling mixtures.
Postdoctoral Fellow
University Of Texas At Austin
Austin, TX
07.2020 - 05.2021
- Conducted the synthesis of Cerium oxide nanocrystals and developed nanocomposite membrane formulations, employing advanced analytical and experimental techniques to investigate structure-property relationships and conduct material testing.
- Executed rigorous testing of single-stack fuel cells and conducted membrane characterization for low and intermediate temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells.
- Led a multidisciplinary team in an entrepreneurial capacity for the National Science Foundation Innovation-Corps program, driving the commercialization of innovative technologies through comprehensive customer and stakeholder discovery initiatives and the development of business model canvases.
Education
Ph.D. - Chemical Engineering
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA06.2020
Bachelor’s - Chemical Engineering
National Institute of Technology Calicut
Calicut, India05-2015
Skills
- Polymer Engineering
- Nanocomposites
- Electrochemical Separations
- Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)
- Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR)
- X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS)
- Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)
- Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC)/Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA)
- Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)
- Electrochemical techniques: CV, LSV, EIS
- Dynamic Light Scattering
- UV-Visible Spectroscopy
- Python, MATLAB
- Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint
- Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS)
- Labview
Accomplishments
- Awarded Area 8A Excellence in graduate research award by American Institute of Chemical Engineers
- Received outstanding dissertation award in Chemical Engineering department
- Received Coates Graduate travel award and Graduate student association travel award
Affiliations
- Vice-President of Electrochemical Society Student Chapter LSU (2016-2018)
- Member of American Chemical Society, AIChE
- Volunteer at Louisiana Environmental Action Network
Publications and Patents
- V.M. Palakkal, L. Valentino, Q. Lei, S. Kole, Y.J. Lin, and C.G. Arges, Advancing electrodeionization with conductive ionomer binders that immobilize ion-1 exchange resin particles into porous wafer substrates, npj Clean Water, 2020.http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41545-020-0052-z
- V.M. Palakkal, J.E. Rubio, Y.J. Lin, and C.G. Arges, Low resistant ion-exchange membranes for energy efficient membrane capacitive deionization, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 2018, 6, 13778, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.8b01797
- V.M. Palakkal and C.G. Arges, Alternative ion-exchange materials for membrane capacitive deionization, ECS Transactions, 2017, 77, 1997, http://dx.doi.org/10.1149/07711.1997ecst
- V. M. Palakkal, T.Nguyen, P. Nguyen, M. Chernovaa, J. E. Rubio, G. Venugopalan, M. Hatzell, X. Zhu, and C.G. Arges, A high power thermally regenerative copper-ammonia redox flow battery enabled by a zero gap cell design and low-resistant membranes and protective electrode coatings. ACS Appl. Energy Mater. 2020, 3, 5, 4787–4798. https://doi-org./10.1021/acsaem.0c00400.
- Varada Menon Palakkal, Christopher G. Arges and Matthew Leo Jordan, U.S. National Stage Patent Application: Resin Wafer Technologies with Solution Processable Ionomers
Timeline
Senior Research Scientist
Sublime Systems
11.2022 - Current
Lead Research & Development Engineer
Phuc Labs
06.2021 - 11.2022
Postdoctoral Fellow
University Of Texas At Austin
07.2020 - 05.2021
Ph.D. - Chemical Engineering
Louisiana State University
Bachelor’s - Chemical Engineering
National Institute of Technology Calicut
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