Hrishikesh Pingulkar

Hrishikesh Pingulkar is a mechanical engineer turned soft matter physicist with a strong background in experimentation. He holds a PhD in rheology and has experience in microfluidics and colloids.

His PhD research focused on extensional rheology of stretched viscoelastic liquid capillary bridges. This research investigated the formation of filaments, the beads on a string (BOAS) phenomenon, and liquid transfer, with applications in printing, coating, and food industries.

He then went to conduct postdoctorate research where he specialized in microfluidics and colloids. His work primarily dealt with the directional drying of colloidal dispersions in microfluidic chips, with applications in paints, coatings, and personal care products. During this period, Hrishikesh gained valuable experience in microfabrication, particularly in creating complex PDMS chips using photolithography. He also developed an innovative method for measuring water potential during directional drying, a crucial parameter for understanding fluid dynamics in porous materials.