Vishnushankar Viraliyur Ramasamy, a PhD candidate from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India, was selected for this year’s Swanger Fellowship.

Prior to starting his studies at Case Western Reserve University in August 2021, Ramasamy earned his BE from Anna University in his home country and his MS from University of Cincinnati, both in mechanical engineering. However, his work in additive manufacturing “made me realize the need and importance of materials science to advance my career.”

After he began applying to PhD programs, Ramasamy received multiple offers, but knew he wanted to work with Professor John Lewandowski at CWRU. “Dr. Lewandowski stood out as a knowledgeable, intriguing, and understanding person,” he said. “In addition to making use of me for his lab, he is very open to discussing my ideas in engineering and helps me network with the right people of interest, which is beyond the scope of our project.” In addition to working with Lewandowski, some of the things that Ramasamy likes most about CWRU are the department as a whole, think[box] and “the calm and affordable residential environment around CWRU.”

Prior to coming to CWRU, Ramasamy worked at GE Renewable Energy and Maker Gear LLC. “I was involved in developing exciting applications using additive manufacturing: low-cost prostheses for non-profits, surgical planning models for hospitals, wind turbine blades for GE, and many more,” he said. “I enjoyed every project and experienced the impact it made.”

Ramasamy’s main interests in materials science and engineering include understanding the variations in the mechanical behavior of materials concerning their manufacturing methods and external conditions during usage, learning testing and characterization techniques and using math models and statistical tools to understand and predict these behaviors in specific cases. In the long term, he hopes to develop an advanced understanding of materials to use to explore applications and solve problems in additive manufacturing.

In addition to his interests in engineering, Ramasamy enjoys cooking and playing the guitar.

The Swanger Fellowship is endowed by 1968 CWRU alumnus Lee Swanger.  Students who receive the fellowship receive funding to help with easing their transition to their postgrad education, as connection and networking opportunities with Swanger himself and with students.