Poornima Padmanabhan
Associate Professor
Poornima Padmanabhan
Associate Professor
Education
B.Tech., Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (India); Ph.D., Cornell University
Bio
Dr. Poornima Padmanabhan is an Associate Professor at Rochester Institute of Technology in the Department of Chemical Engineering. She received her B. Tech in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and Ph.D. from Cornell University. Her research interests are in the areas of the thermodynamics and rheology of soft materials comprised of polymers and colloids. Her group develops rational design approaches using computational methods to understand the interplay between competing thermodynamic driving forces to design materials of desired composition and length scales. In 2022, she received an NSF CAREER award to study the role of chirality in self-assembly, and to improve engineering pedagogy by designing activities targeted at improving spatial thinking skills in first year engineering students. In 2024, she was received a ACS PMSE Early Investigator Award. In addition to research, she is actively involved in increasing the presence of women in STEM through outreach and engagement.