Profile

I have lived in many countries; Australia, France, Finland, India and the UK.  Travelling to new places and discovering new cultures and cuisine makes me happy and I have visited many countries too. I love hiking in the countryside. My favourite place to hike was in the Isle of Harris in Scotland. There were definitely more sheep than people there. And highland cows too. This summer, I walked along the South Downs way in Sussex.

I am a photography enthusiast and the picture I am most proud of was a picture of a reindeer that I took while hiking in Lapland. I also tried macro photography, taking pictures of insects in the garden. You need a lot of patience for it but it is worth it when you succeed to get a good picture.

Another of my passions is food. My favourite food is my mother’s cooking of regional dishes from India. There is nothing better than crispy dosa with sambar and chutney.

Designing new materials for use in aircraft and spacecraft construction means we have to ensure that they are strong and fit for purpose. I use a combination of experiments and numerical models to study the mechanical properties of these new materials. Bird strike or hail impact are extreme cases where the material has to withstand severe loads. I can’t really throw a bird at an aircraft wing to see if they break, can I? So instead, I test the impact strength in a lab with specialised equipment. Since these events take place in a blink-and-you-miss-it flash, we need high speed cameras to observe what is happening. I use image analysis to understand how damage occurs from these high speed images. And maybe make my small contribution to developing the aircraft of the future.

I wake up at 7 and precisely measure my ground coffee to brew my first cup of wake-up juice. I play Sudoku as I sip my coffee ( a drop of warmed milk, one teaspoon of sugar) and then read the Guardian newspaper online. At 9, I start work by making a list of all the things I have to do that day. Most days it means setting up high speed cameras and conducting experiments. Surprisingly, a lot of the morning is spent walking around the lab trying to find a specific screw or a cable that I need for the setup. I swear these things magically wander around and hide when no one is looking.

Then it is time for the second coffee. Do you know there is a simple equation: Scientist + Coffee = Science. At 10:30, I have a meeting with students who work on research projects with me. Other days it is analysing the data from the previous days’ experiments. At 12:30, I have lunch and a short walk to get some fresh air and to clear my head. In the afternoon, I continue with the experiments or build simulations that replicate what we observe in experiments. At 4, I read journal articles published on my interested topics. On the rare days that I feel inspired, I spend an hour writing a manuscript of my research project. Writing is hard work. When I finish work for the day,  I strikethrough all the things I have finished on my list. It is the most satisfying feeling. Then, I spend time in the garden or a nearby park. Then it is dinner, TV, video chats with family and bed.