Jay Srinivasan awarded Mistletoe Research Fellowship, will study effect of inhibitors on localized corrosion

Posted: 
photo of Jay Srinivasan, Ohio State and Mistletoe Research Fellow

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering congratulates Jay Srinivasan for being awarded the 2020-2021 Mistletoe Research Fellowship by the Momental Foundation. The Mistletoe Research Fellowship is designed for postdoctoral fellows and PhD candidates who partner with startups to develop technology “with a high potential for social and humanitarian impact”1.

The October 6 announcement designated Jay’s fellowship under the Unfettered Research Grant Award. As such, Dr. Srinivasan will concentrate on the effect of inhibitors on localized corrosion – which is related to but separate from the work performed with materials science and engineering professors Jen Locke and Eric Schindelholz of Ohio State’s Fontana Corrosion Center (FCC).

In its third cohort, the Mistletoe Research Fellowship welcomes Dr. Srinivasan and 11 other fellows who were selected from 250 applicants. He describes being attracted to the Mistletoe Research Fellowship for several unique reasons, “The grant allows work on research ideas of one’s own interest and encourages participation in a tech startup to translate potential research findings into a tangible product for social impact”. Jay’s research as part of the Mistletoe Research Fellowship allows him to remain at Ohio State, where he can administer research familiar to the FCC.

Jayendran “Jay” Srinivasan, Ph.D. came to the FCC at Ohio State in the spring of 2019. His purpose was twofold: to gain experience with stress corrosion cracking experimental techniques and to work on aspects of atmospheric corrosion. Both were naturally related to his doctoral work on factors for critical pitting stability.

As a postdoctoral scholar in the Fontana Corrosion center, his research with Professor Locke concerns stress corrosion cracking of stainless steel exposed to atmospheric conditions. Dr. Srinivasan evaluates the effects of humidity on corrosion morphology and its implications on cracking and susceptibility to failure under mechanical stress. Specific to Jay’s collaboration with Professor Schindelholz is the electrochemistry of environmental conditions on pit morphology, which looks at how changes in humidity affect electrolyte composition and associated physicochemical properties that influence pitting corrosion reaction kinetics.

The combination of research performed at the Fontana Corrosion Center as part of the Mistletoe Research Fellowship and the Locke-Schindelholz team will certainly prepare Dr. Srinivasan for a robust career in materials science. His goal is to work in a research and development role at a national laboratory or in industry focusing on new materials design, testing, and development.

Jay double majored in chemical engineering and chemistry at the Birla Institute of Technology & Science (Pilani, India) and earned his PhD from the University of Virginia in materials science and engineering.

1https://www.momentalfound.org/mistletoe-research-fellowship

Categories: AwardsResearch