Kushal

 Kedia  -­‐  1  of  5  

 
KUSHAL KEDIA
Business Address: Home address:
77 Massachusetts Avenue 88 Columbia Street
Building 3 – 339 Apartment 1
Cambridge, MA 02139 Cambridge, MA 02139
617.258.7410 617.909.4850
kushal@mit.edu
http://web.mit.edu/kushal/www

EDUCATION

Massachusetts Institute of Technology GPA 4.9/5.0 Cambridge, MA

Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (May 2013)
Major: Fluid and Thermal Sciences.
Minor: Numerical Methods and Simulations.
Thesis: Fully Resolved Multiscale Simulations of Reacting Flows near Heat-conducting Walls.
Laboratory: Center for Energy and Propulsion Research, Reacting Gas Dynamics Laboratory.
Advisor: Prof. Ahmed F. Ghoniem, Ronald C. Crane (‘72) professor of Mechanical Engineering.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology GPA 4.9/5.0 Cambridge, MA

S.M. in Computation for Design and Optimization (June 2010)
Interdisciplinary program of MIT’s Center for Computational Engineering
Thesis: Numerical Simulations of Perforated-plate Stabilized Premixed Flames with Detailed Chemistry.

Indian Institute of Technology Madras GPA 9.08/10.0 Chennai, India

M. Tech. in Aerospace Engineering (May 2008)
Thesis: Thermoacoustic Instabilities in a Rijke Tube: Impact of Linear Coupling and Stochastic Sources.
Laboratory: Combustion Instabilities Laboratory
Advisor: Prof. Raman I. Sujith.

Indian Institute of Technology Madras GPA 9.08/10.0 Chennai, India

B. Tech. in Aerospace Engineering (May 2008)
Minor: Ocean Engineering.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Computational Fluid Dynamics, Multiscale simulations of Reacting Flows, Combustion, Fluid and Thermal
sciences, Flame stabilization and Blowoff mechanisms, Adaptive Mesh Refinement, Operator-Split Algorithms,
Flame-wall Interactions.
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RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Research Assistant, Department of Mechanical Engineering (Sep 2008 – present) MIT

Advisor: Prof. Ahmed Ghoniem
Collaborators: Dr. Habib Najm, Dr. Cosmin Safta and Dr. Jaideep Ray, Combustion Research Facility, Sandia
National Laboratories, Livermore, California
Research Sponsors: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia
• Developed in-house state-of-the-art multi-scale CFD simulation tools for reacting flows with high fidelity
computational algorithms like operator splitting, hybrid explicit-implicit approaches incorporating detailed
chemical kinetics and flame-wall interactions.
• Proposed laminar flame stabilization & blowoff theory for fundamental understanding of the underlying
physics using the fully resolved numerical simulations.
• Developed a theoretical model for predicting dynamic response of perforated-plate stabilized premixed
flames and demonstrated the critical role of conjugate heat transfer with the flame-holder wall.
• Proficient in various simulation toolboxes like CHEMKIN, CANTERA, Fluent, Gambit and languages such
as C , C++, FORTRAN, MATLAB.
• Authored and co-authored 6 publications in refereed journals.
• Presented research in the combustion symposia held at China (2010) and Poland (2012).

Research Assistant, Department of Aerospace Engineering (May 2005 – May 2008) IIT Madras
Advisor: Prof. Raman Sujith
• Worked on Galerkin methods for thermoacoustic instabilities in the Combustion Instabilities Laboratory.
• Collaborated in formulating the novel Non-normal analysis and demonstrated that singular values (and not
eigenvalues) characterize energy growth during thermoacoustic instabilities. This approach is a significant
departure from the classical orthogonal modal approach.
• Authored and co-authored 2 publications in refereed journals

Summer Intern, Department of Aerospace Engineering (May 2006 – July 2006) IIT Bombay
Advisor: Prof. Krishnendu Sinha
• Investigated different compressible turbulence models applied to a hypersonic re-entry vehicle in the
Hypersonic CFD group
• Critically compared them and presented a paper in the International Conference on Fluid Mechanics and
Fluid Power.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Summer Intern, Bosch Research and Technology Center (June 2011 – Aug 2011) Palo Alto, CA
• Improved the center’s ubsteady flamelet modeling CFD tools significantly for turbulent combustion in
biomass combustors.
• Reproduced the experimentally observed highly nonlinear pollutant behavior successfully unsing the
simuations
• Documented a step-by-step simulation guide for routine implementations by the technical division of Bosch
in Germany.

In-plant Trainee, Air India Ltd. (May 2005 – July 2005) Mumbai, India
• Assisted aircraft maintenance engineers in safety checks of flaps, spoilers, landing gears, horizontal
stabilizers & other major airframe components of a Boeing 747-400.
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Summer Intern, Zeus Numerix Pvt. Ltd. (May 2004 – July 2004) Mumbai, India
• Imparted hands-on client practical training of their indigenous flow simulation software, CFDExpert.
• Aided in a complete technical documentation associated with this complex commercial toolbox.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Teaching Assistant, MIT Fall 2011

2.28: Fundamentals and Applications of Combustion (Graduate Level Course)
Lecturers: Prof. Ahmed Ghoniem
• Delivered 2 lectures during the course, Tutorial on Cantera Toolbox for Combustion Simulations and
Numerical Methods for Simulating Reacting Flows
• Conducted weekly recitations to complement the lectures, and held tutorials
• Prepared and graded problem sets and exams.

Teaching Assistant, IIT Madras Jan-May 2007

AS632: Acoustic Instabilities in Aerospace Propulsion (Graduate Level Course)
Lecturers: Prof. Raman Sujith
• Prepared and graded problem sets and exams.
• Conducted viva for term projects

AWARDS AND HONORS

• National Talent Search Scholarship, National Council for Educational Research and Training,
Government of India (2001-2008). Awarded to 600 candidates from 0.2 million applicants
• General Electric Foundation Scholarship, General Electric (2007-2008). Awarded to 200 candidates from
14 countries
• Article #7 in Science Direct Top 25 Hottest Articles of the Proceedings of the Combustion Institute
(October-December 2009)
• Reviewer of the International Journal of Spray and Combustion Dynamics (2010 - present).
• Secured first Position in the Energize to Innovate workshop held at General Electric Research Center,
Bangalore (2007).

OTHER ACTIVITIES AND MEMBERSHIPS

• Member of the Combustion Institute.

• Elected as a Resources/Reservations officer in the Edgerton House Government at Massachusetts Institute
of Technology.
• Elected as a Food and Dining Secretary in Saraswathi Hostel Government at Indian Institute of Technology
Madras.
• Co-ordinated with high profile speakers for lecture and demonstration series in the annual technical festival
of IIT Madras.
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PUBLICATIONS

A. Refereed Journals

1. K. S. Kedia and A. F. Ghoniem, An Analytical Model for the Prediction of the Dynamic Response of
Premixed Flames Stabilized on a Heat-conducting Perforated Plate, Proceedings of the Combustion
Institute, in press, 2013. (Presented at the 34th International Symposium on Combustion, Warsaw,
Poland, 2012).
2. K. S. Kedia and A. F. Ghoniem, Mechanism of Stabilization and Blowoff of a Premixed Flame
Downstream of a Heat-conducting Perforated Plate, Combustion and Flame, Vol. 159, pp. 1055 - 1069,
2012.
3. K. S. Kedia, H. M. Altay and A. F. Ghoniem, Impact of Flame-Wall Interaction on Flame Dynamics
and Transfer Function Characteristics, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, Vol. 33, pp. 1113 -
1120, 2011. (Presented at the 33rd International Symposium on Combustion, Beijing, China, 2010).
4. H. M. Altay, K. S. Kedia, R. L. Speth and A. F. Ghoniem, Two-Dimensional Simulations of Steady
Perforated-Plate Stabilized Premixed Flames, Combustion Theory and Modelling, Vol. 14, pp. 125-
154, 2010.
5. S. B. Nagaraja, K. S. Kedia and R. I. Sujith, Characterization of Energy Growth during Combustion
Instabilities: Singularvalues or Eigenvalues?, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, Vol. 32, pp.
2933 - 2940, 2009. (Article #7 in the Science Direct Top 25 Hottest Articles in Oct-Dec 2009 of the
Proceedings of the Combustion Institute).
6. K. S. Kedia, S. B. Nagaraja and R. I. Sujith, Impact of Linear Coupling on Thermoacoustic
Instabilities, Combustion Science and Technology, Vol. 180, Issue 9, pp. 1588-1612, 2008.

B. Conferences

1. K. S. Kedia and A. F. Ghoniem, High Fidelity Combustion Simulations, work-in-progress poster

presented at the 34th International Symposium on Combustion, Warsaw, Poland, 2012.
2. H. M. Altay, K. S. Kedia, R. L. Speth and A. F. Ghoniem, "Simulations of Laminar Perforated-Plate
Stabilized Flame Dynamics", 6th U.S. National Combustion Meeting, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, U.S.A., May 2009.
3. K. S. Kedia and K. Sinha, "Effects of Compressibility Correction to Turbulence Models applied to a
Hypersonic Re-entry Configuration", 3rd International Conference on Fluid Mechanics and Fluid
Power, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India, December 2006.
4. K. S. Kedia and J. Kurian, "Supersonic Freejets from Shaped Nozzles", 32nd National Conference on
Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Power, Osmanabad, India, December 2005.

C. Manuscripts in Preparation for Refereed Journals

1. K. S. Kedia, A. F. Ghoniem, C. Safta, J. Ray and H. Najm, Numerical Investigations of Bluff Body
Flame Stabilization and Blowoff using Operator-Split AMR Code, Journal of Computational Physics.
2. K. S. Kedia, A. F. Ghoniem, C. Safta, J. Ray and H. Najm, "Second Order, Operator-Split, AMR Code
for Reacting Flows with Flame-Wall Conjugate Heat Exchange, Combustion and Flame.
3. E. Knudsen, D. J. Cook, K. S. Kedia, X. Li and H. Pitsch, "Modeling CO Emissions From A Biomass
Combustor using an Unsteady Flamelet Framework", Combustion and Flame.
4. S. Hong, S. J. Shanbhogue, K. S. Kedia and A. F. Ghoniem, Impact of the Flameholder Heat Transfer
Characteristics on Combustion Dynamics and Instability, Combustion and Flame.
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Computer Skills

• Languages: C, C++, FORTRAN, MATLAB, PYTHON

• Applications: CHEMKIN, CANTERA, TECPLOT, FLUENT, GAMBIT, MATHEMATICA, LaTeX,
Microsoft Office
• OS: Linux and Windows

RELEVANT COURSEWORK

• Advanced Fluid Mechanics • Numerical Methods for PDEs

• Advanced Heat Transfer • Numerical Linear Algebra
• Thermodynamics • Numerical Methods for Stochastic
• Fundamentals and Applications of Combustion Modeling and Inference
• Fluid Dynamics • Optimization Methods
• Acoustic Instabilities in Aerospace Propulsion • Parallel Computing
• High Temperature Gas Dynamics • Advanced Operations Research
• Air-breathing and Non Air-breathing Propulsion • Computational Fluid Dynamics

REFERENCES

Professor Ahmed F. Ghoniem Assistant Professor Youssef Marzouk

Ronald C. Crane (‘72) Professor Boeing Assistant Professor
Director of Center for Energy & Propulsion Research Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics,
Department of Mechanical Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Building 33-305
77 Massachusetts Avenue, Building 3.342 Cambridge, MA 02139
Cambridge, MA 02139 (+1) 617.253.1337
(+1) 617.253.2210 ymarz@mit.edu
ghoniem@mit.edu

Professor Raman I. Sujith Habib N. Najm, Ph.D.

RGD Laboratory, First Floor, Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff
Department of Aerospace Engineering Combustion Research Facility
Indian Institute of Technology Madras P. O. Box 969, MS 9051
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India 600 036 Sandia National Laboratories
(+91) 44.2257.4000 Livermore, CA, 94551
(+91) 44.2257.4012 (+1) 925.294.2054
sujith@iitm.ac.in hnnajm@sandia.gov