Co-advised student
Anirudh Painuly at the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee. (Major adviser: P.C. Ashwin Kumar, IITR, India)
Group
Principal Investigator
Ravi Yellavajjala
Associate Professor
School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment
- [email protected]
- 480/965-2790
- 850 S. McAllister Ave. #229A Tempe AZ 85281
Yellavajjala's research interests include experimental and theoretical mechanics, damage mechanics and data-driven structural engineering.
Graduate Students
Muhammad Rafiul Mahdi
B.S. and M.S. in Civil Engineering from the Islamic University of Technology and the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, respectively. Rafiul joined the DAMS lab in the Spring of 2024 as a Ph.D. student and i
Prince Aminu
B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Benin, Nigeria, and M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Delaware. Prince joined the DAMS lab in spring 2026 as a Ph.D. student and is working on sustainable constr
Essar Jan
Essar holds a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and a Bachelor’s degree from the National Institute of Technology Srinagar. Her master’s research focused on the Behavior of St
Alumni
Visiting Faculty 1) Jihui Xing (2018-19). Currently an Associate Professor at Beijing Jiaotong University.
Ph.D.1)Hizb Ullah Sajid (Ph.D. in Civil Engineering in fall 2021): Currently Research Engineer – Genex Systems/ FHWA Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center. Thesis: Post-Fire Damage and Corrosion in Structural Steels: Characterization and Prevention.
Ph.D.2) Dayakar Naik Lavadiya (Ph.D. in Civil Engineering in fall 2021): Currently an assistant professor at the University of Mary. Thesis: Neural Networks and Sensitivity Analysis for Detection and Interpretation of Structural Damage
M.S.1) Anik Das Anto (M.S. in Civil Engineering in fall 2022): Currently a Graduate student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Thesis: Fracture Initiating Mechanism in Additively Manufactured 17-4 Stainless Steel.
M.S.2) Akhil Venkatraju (M.S. in Computer Science in fall 2022): Currently a data scientist. Thesis: Automated Approaches for the Early-Stage Distinguishing of Palmer Amaranth from Waterhemp.
M.S.3) Gage Merkel (M.S. in Civil Engineering in fall 2023): Thesis: Thesis title: “Improving the ice melting capacity of salt brine solution through the addition of super absorbent polymers”.
P.D.2) Gururaj Acharya Mundkur: Postdoc 2024-2025
M.S.4) Maedeh Hesami (M.S. in Civil Engineering in summer 2025): Thesis title: “Starch-based hydrogel synthesis, characterization, and applications”.
Ph.D.3) Dharanidharan Arumugam (Ph.D. in Civil Engineering in summer 2025): Thesis title: “Interpretable and efficient data-driven models for microstructural characterization and metal fracture”.
Ph.D.4) Asif Jalal (Ph.D. in Civil Engineering in fall 2025): Thesis title: “Enhancing Durability of Cementitious Materials Using Bio-based Hydrogels and Superabsorbent Polymers”.
Ph.D.5) Sher Afgan (Ph.D. in Civil Engineering in fall 2025)
Ph.D.6) Surajit Dey (Ph.D. in Civil Engineering in summer 2026): Thesis title: “Microvoid Characterization and Fracture Modeling of Structural and Additively Manufactured Steels Under Monotonic and Ultra-Low Cycle Fatigue Loading.”