I was born in Patna, India. Like many fortunate people, I have wonderful parents, Ram Nandan Prasad and Rupa Prasad. They have always loved, guided and supported me. I have an affectionate younger brother who is also an engineer like me.
After staying in Gridih till the age of six, a time from which I still recollect wonderful memories, we moved to Patna to live in a joint family. There was never a dull moment with my brother and my cousins around. I went to school at Don Bosco Academy and made few great friends there. The teachers were excellent and there itself I developed an interest in Math. After taking my 10th board exams, I decided to prepare for a career in engineering. So, I moved to Bokaro to study at Delhi Public School for the next two years. I stayed with my grandmother, uncle, aunt and cousin and enjoyed every bit of it. The environment at DPS was conducive for my preparation towards entrance test for IIT. Problem-solving sessions in and out of class with friends were stimulating and helped build my concepts in math and science. I will always cherish those moments.
After DPS, I joined IIT Kharagpur, one of the greatest colleges to be in. I met wonderful friends there. There certainly wasn't a dull moment living in dorms with friends. At Kharagpur, I was introduced to computational techniques for materials modeling. I did an internship at Tata Steel, where I worked on a project to suggest an optimum rolling schedule based on quality and cost using evolutionary algorithm. I realized I liked programming and found its use in physical understanding of materials processing fascinating. Therefore, after finishing my bachelors, I decided to go for Ph.D. So, here I am now at Penn State.
Currently, I am trying to evolve a better understanding of various physical aspects of Friction Stir Welding process by modeling heat transfer and plastic flow during welding.
I have been in US for almost three years now. It has been an incredible experience. I enjoy nature and outdoors and love to drive through scenic roads. I also have an abiding interest in reading and collecting popular Science and Math books.
I plan to graduate in a year or so. I would like to work for the industry where I would be able to do exciting work related to computational modeling, fluid mechanics and materials processing.
