Graduate Student

Vishwanathan Ponnuraj Pulugandi

********@***.***, ****.****@*****.*** 502-***-****

OBJECTIVE

Seeking a mechanical engineering position where my technical and analytical skills can be fully utilized.

EDUCATION

M.S.E, Mechanical Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe CGPA-3.50/4.0

Expected Graduation Date: May 2012

B.E, Automobile Engineering, Anna University, MIT Campus, India CGPA-7.0/10.0

Graduation Date: May 2010

AREA OF INTEREST

Internal Combustion Engines, Engine and Powertrain SIMULINK modeling, Design and fabrication of heat

exchangers, Testing and Validation of fuel systems and vehicles using dynamometers, 2D and 3D modeling of

mechanical systems, Solar Thermal Systems, Automotive emission reduction.

PATENTS AND CERTIFICATIONS

• High Efficiency Heat Exchanger and Thermal Engine Pump (Patent application in progress).

• AZDtec certified on Hybrid Vehicle technologies.

EXPERIENCE

• R & D Engineering Intern, Chilled Solar, R&D, Surprise, Arizona (May 2011 – August 2011):

I. Performed design calculations for tube in tube heat exchanger and shell and tube heat exchanger.

II. Optimized the design of heat exchanger for different capacities of stirling engine and also for

achieving best and optimized stroke time of the engine.

III. Designed the Shell flange and the Header flange according to ASME standards and generated the

Bill of materials.

IV. Designed Shell and Tube heat exchanger using Solidworks.

V. Laid out the piping assembly for the HVAC system using Solidworks.

VI. Designed a frame for the Shell and tube heat exchanger using Solidworks according to ASME

standards and generated the bill of materials for it.

VII. Performed static displacement tests on heat exchanger frames using COSMOSWorks.

VIII. Generated quotations and procured materials for the apparatus.

• Testing and Validation Intern, Ucal fuel systems, R&D, Chennai, India (May 2008 – July 2008 ):

I. Underwent training in the R&D facility of the industry and gained knowledge about the various

types of fuel systems.

II. Conducted part throttle, wide open throttle tests and measured fuel consumption, A/F and steady

state emissions using engine dynamometer.

III. Tested and certified the carburetors, tested them on vehicles using chassis dynamometer,

measured the A/F and verified their emission levels according to Bharath III emission standards.

• Service Engineering Intern, Pilot TVS, Chennai, India ( July 2008 – August 2008):

I. Examined vehicles brought into the vehicle workshop, and compiled a comprehensive list of their

problems.

II. Dismantled the single cylinder engine components of TVS two wheelers and studied their

problems.

III. Conducted compression test, leak down test, adjusted valves and conducted spark plug test in

order to improve performance of the engines.

SKILL SET

• Modelling: SolidWorks, Pro E, Catia, MS Visio, AutoCAD

• Simulation: Polysun, SIMULINK

• Analysis: COSMOSWorks

• Programming: C, MATLAB, HDFView 2.6

• Statistical tool: Design Expert

RELATED COURSEWORK

Internal Combustion Engines, Vehicle Maintenance and Testing, Automotive Chassis Engineering, Automotive

Transmissions, Vehicle Body Engineering, Vehicle Dynamics, Automotive Pollution Control, Advance Engineering

Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics, Solar Thermal Engineering, Energy Systems Engineering, Design of Engineering

Experiments, Advanced Convective Heat Transfer.

PROJECTS

• Dynamic Tuning of Air Suspension (Executed in Ashok Leyland, Chennai, India):

I. Studied on the problem statement given by the company which addressed about the problems

faced by their semi low floor chassis suspension systems.

II. Identified the shock and vibration problems in normal air suspension.

III. Improved the suspension system by designing and fitting additional cylinders to the existing air

suspension.

IV. This project was implemented on a semi low floor chassis and executed in Ashok Leyland.

• Active Thermal Insulation System Utilizing Phase Change Material:

I. A small scale model of a building was designed and it was covered with phase change material

II. Enhanced and optimized the thermal insulation of the model using phase change material.

III. Reduced the electricity load of the air conditioner by installing the phase change material.

IV. The same idea was recommended for automotive cooling.

• Optimizing 30kW Microturbine:

I. Optimized the overall efficiency of 30kW microtubine by varying the parameters like specific heats,

pressure ratio, recuperator effectiveness and compared it with the capstone 30kW microturbine.

II. Developed an optimized thermodynamic model for the microturbine.

III. Prepared a cost model for the running of the optimized 30kW microturbine.

IV. The idea of using this optimized microturbine for hybrid electric vehicles for charging battery, for

air conditioning and also for acceleration of the vehicle was recommended.

• Preparation of Biodiesel using solar power:

I. Built a small scale reactor with reaction chamber, heating chamber and solar flat collector.

II. Studied about the process of esterification and calculated the amount of sodium hydroxide needed

for the project.

III. Prepared bio diesel using transesterification reaction between sodium hydroxide, virgin olive oil

and ethanol in the reactor.

• Analysis of different fluids in microchannels:

I. Analyzed the flow of different fluids like milk, dye in microchannels (manufactured using different

presses like laser, ballistic, rotary, stamped and hydraulic).

II. Devised a method to find the flow duration, phase lag, velocity factor and symmetry factor of

different fluids in the microchannel using Adobe Aftereffects CS5.

III. It was used to find surface and geometry effects on the flow quality in precision fluidic devices.

• Water Flow management in Canals:

I. Setup the Data Loggers along with the Digital Camera and Cellular Modem to capture pictures of

the water flowing through the canal.

II. Pictures of the water level were taken using the digital camera which was later stored in Data

Logger.

III. Timer was set in such a way that a picture was taken in a specified amount of time and was sent to

the work station through Cellular Modem.

• Capstone Project: MVEM Modeling of an Engine:

I. Working on Kohler AEGIS LH640 V- Twin engine

II. Currently in process of building a Mean Value Model of the engine using MATLAB/SIMULINK.

III. The System was broken into components and input, output and control parameters were studied.

IV. Components are throttle, intake manifold, and crankshaft and it includes giving mathematical and

parametrical equations describing the dynamics of carburetor, intake manifold, crankshaft and also

for processes like intake, combustion, valve timing.

V. Developing Interface in NI LabView for tapping CFM, intake manifold pressure, volumetric

efficiency vs RPM and fuel flow in SI Engine using FPGA system.

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