Mechanical Engineering Student Appointed to ASME-IPTI Collegiate Council

Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. student Shayandev Sinha was selected as a 2015-2016 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) International Petroleum Technology Institute (IPTI) Collegiate Council member. He will be one of 36 students from universities in North America and Mexico serving on the council.

The Collegiate Council was established in 2003 as an initiative to get college students involved in the future of ASME-Petroleum Division (PD). As members of the Collegiate Council, students are able to learn more about the Oil and Gas industry, network with professionals, and interact with other students who share similar interests.

Additionally, PD takes a leadership role in the transfer of technical and other information to engineers, worldwide, in industries developing energy sources, converting them to basic raw materials and fuels, or designing products, materials,systems or services used in these industries; including Petroleum, Natural Gas, Petrochemicals, Coal, Oil Shale, and others.

Sinha will be responsible for disseminating PD information to his student section members. He will also work closely with the other Collegiate Council members on a chosen project, while working closely with the current student intern and PD staff.

Sinha began his Ph.D. at the University of Maryland (UMD) spring 2015 in Assistant Professor Siddartha Das’s Soft Matter, Interfaces, and Energy Laboratory (SMIEL). He received his B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur), and he is a member of the American Physical Society (APS) and the Materials Research Society (MRS). His research explores the challenges of bio-adhesion on soft charged systems in an underwater scenario, and his proposed first scale model for these processes was published in the Journal of Applied Physics.

Sinha’s other research interests include electrokinetics in nanochannels and oil-water separation. His work on oil-water separation was published in Colloids and Surfaces A and RSC Advances. The work published in RSC Advances was conducted in collaboration with Dr. Mahmoud of the Qatar Energy and Environment Research institute (QEERI).

Of his appointment to the council, Sinha said “On this occasion I would like to thank my advisor Prof. Siddhartha Das at the University of Maryland-College Park for his support and guidance.”

His tenure on the council lasts through the end of 2016, and he will represent UMD at both the spring and fall meetings.

Published January 4, 2016