Ashwin J. Shahani
Principal investigator
Ashwin is an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan. He earned his B.S. from Cornell University and his Ph.D. from Northwestern University, both degrees in the field of Materials Science and Engineering. It is at Northwestern, under the direction of Prof. Peter Voorhees, that Ashwin developed his passion for solidification and processing science. Now as an independent researcher at UM, he hopes to tackle some of the unsolved problems in the field. In support of his research pursuits, Shahani has won the AFOSR YIP award in 2017, ARO YIP in 2018, and NSF CAREER in 2019. Recently, in 2025, he won PECASE, the highest honor bestowed by the federal government to young scientists beginning their academic careers. His citation reads: “for his development of state-of-the-art characterization tools for capturing materials evolution during processing in situ, his tenacious outreach efforts to underrepresented students in the state of Michigan, and his leadership in the materials science community.” Outside of work, Ashwin enjoys traveling, baking, running, rowing, and playing tennis. Interested in learning more? Ashwin can be reached at shahani [at] umich [dot] edu
Marcel Chlupsa
Doctoral candidate
Marcel is a graduate student in the department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan and joined Prof. Shahani’s group in the fall of 2021. Marcel earned his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS. His research interests lie in understanding abnormal grain growth via multimodal characterization techniques and developing open source analysis tools. Outside of work, Marcel enjoys practicing guitar and brazilian jiu jitsu. Reach Marcel at mchlupsa [at] umich [dot] edu
Jaime Perez Coronado
Doctoral candidate (co-advised with Alan Taub)
Jaime is a graduate student in the department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan and joined Professor Shahani’s group in the fall of 2022. Jaime earned his B.S.E. in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Industrial Engineering, from Tecnológico de Monterrey (Monterrey Campus). His research focuses on the formation of banded microstructures in Al-based composites and off-monotectic alloys under directional solidification. In his free time, Jaime enjoys playing and watching soccer, as well as playing videogames. Reach Jaime at jaimepc [at] umich [dot] edu
Soumyadeep Dasgupta
Doctoral candidate
Soumyadeep is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan and joined Prof. Shahani’s group in the fall of 2022. He earned his B.Tech. degree in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur and his M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He develops and applies high-speed synchrotron X-ray tomography techniques, coupled with 3D image processing and crystallographic analysis, to quantify interface dynamics and phase selection mechanisms during multi-phase solidification in complex alloys. Outside academia, Soumyadeep enjoys cooking, traveling, and playing badminton. Reach Soumyadeep at soumyadg [at] umich [dot] edu
You
Your role
XY is a Z student in the department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan and joined Prof. Shahani’s group in winter 2022. They are currently studying … . Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Outside of research, they enjoy … . Reach them at … [dot] umich [dot] edu
Alumni
Dr. Shanmukha Kiran Aramanda (postdoc, 2022-2025)
Dr. Rijie Zhao (visiting scholar, 2024-2025), now at Dongguan University of Technology
Dr. Geordie Lindemann (graduate, 2018-2024), now at Exponent
Dr. Paul Chao (graduate, 2019-2023), now at Sandia National Laboratories
Eli Rotman (undergraduate, 2021-2023), now at Nucor Corporation
Xinyi Zhou (undergraduate, 2021-2023), now at Princeton
Konnor Walter (undergraduate, 2022-2023)
Dr. Jiwoong Kang (graduate, 2018-2022), now at Apple
Matthew Higgins (masters, 2019-2021), now at Boeing
Dr. Hadi Parsamehr (postdoc, 2019-2021), now at Lam Research
Dr. Ning Lu (postdoc, 2018-2020)
Dr. Yeqing Wang (visiting doctoral student, 2018-2020), now at China University of Mining and Technology
Dr. Insung Han (graduate, 2017-2020), now at Kyungpook National University
Dr. Caleb Reese (graduate, 2018-2020), now at GM
Dr. Saman Moniri (graduate, 2017-2020), now at QuantumScape
Megan Wiltse (masters, 2018-2019)
Dr. Zhucong Xi (masters, 2019)
Ron Keinan (2017-2019), now at Raytheon
Dr. Nancy Senabulya (postdoc, 2017-2018), now at the Michigan Center for Materials Characterization
Issac Loo (masters, 2018)
Matthew Rodeman (undergraduate, 2017-2018)
Che Chan (undergraduate, 2017)
Mushfequr Rahman (masters, 2016-2017)
The group (plus partners) enjoying a night out. Taken fall 2023.