PhD Candidate | Texas A&M University | United States
Short Bio 🌟
Tanaya Mandal is a dynamic materials engineer and Ph.D. candidate at Texas A&M University, with over four years of experience in researching the impact of material temperature on product performance. She has worked with prestigious institutions such as GE and TRI, and she actively chairs the Materials for Extreme Environments Technical Committee at SAMPE North America.
Profile
SCOPUS
Education 🎓
Tanaya Mandal is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University, maintaining a perfect GPA of 4.00. She previously earned her M.E. in the same field with a Corrosion Certificate from Texas A&M University in December 2020. Before that, she received her M.HSc from Trinity School of Medicine in May 2019, and her B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Houston Baptist University in May 2013.
Experience 🛠️
Texas Research Institute, Austin, TX
Application Engineering/Research & Development Intern (May 2023 – August 2023)
Tanaya collaborated with customers to develop prototypes for aerospace applications and engaged in the development of wear protection coatings. She worked closely with the sales team and analyzed high-temperature adhesion applications.
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
PhD Research Student/Graduate Teaching Assistant (January 2021 – Present)
She led a project for the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, creating and analyzing self-healing vitrimer composites for aerospace. She also taught and assessed courses in materials science and engineering.
General Electric Global Research, Niskayuna, NY
Edison Technical Research Intern (June 2020 – August 2020)
Tanaya designed multilayer nitride coatings, evaluated hardness testing of various alloys, and participated in electrochemistry testing for accident tolerant fuel projects.
Research Interest 🔬
Tanaya’s research interests include the development and characterization of high-performance materials for extreme environments, particularly focusing on self-healing composites, high-temperature adhesion applications, and advanced nuclear reactors.
Awards 🏆
- Best Oral Presentation in Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology at the Chemical Engineering Graduate Student Association (ChEGSA) Research Symposium (2024)
- Moderator for Non-Destructive Evaluation & Materials Testing Technical Presentations at CAMX (2023)
- SAMPE Student Chapter Grant Award (2021-2023)
- Semifinalist for SAMPE University Research Symposium (URS) Program Competition (2021)
- Women in 3D Printing (Wi3DP) Next Gen Mentorship Program (2021-present)
- Judge for Senior Division of Materials Science at the Texas Science & Engineering Fair (2021)
- SAMPE University Leadership Experience Award (2020)
- Judge for Undergraduate Research Symposium at TAMU (2019)
Publications 📚
- Mandal, T., Ozten, U., Vaught, L., Meyer, J.L., Amiri, A., Polycarpou, A., Naraghi, M. (2024). Processing and Mechanics of Aromatic Vitrimeric Composites at Elevated Temperatures and Healing Performance. J. Compos. Sci., 8, 252.
- Mandal, T., Rodriguez-Melendez, D., Palen, B., Long, C.T., Chiang, H., Sarikaya, S., Naraghi, M., Grunlan, J.C. (2023). Heat Shielding Nanobrick Wall for Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites. American Chemist Society Applied Polymer Materials, 5(5), 3270-3277.
- Hoffman, A. K., Umretiya, R. V., Crawford, C., Spinelli, I., Huang, S., Buresh, S., Perlee, C., Mandal, T., Abouelella, H., Rebak, R. B. (2023). The relationship between grain size distribution and ductile to brittle transition temperature in FeCrAl alloys. Materials Letters, 331, 133427.