Team

Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering

Specialisation: Offshore Wind Engineering

The University of Maine

Ferland Engineering Education and Design Center, Room 254

Orono, ME 04469-5711

(207) 581-2126; 

amrit.verma@maine.edu 

Ph.D. : Marine Technology from Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway,

PostDoc:  Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology (TUDeflt), The Netherlands

Google Scholar link 

Saravanan is currently working as a doctoral student at Dr. Verma’s WEMO Lab. The focus area of his PhD research is dynamic modelling and operability assessment of marine operations for floating offshore wind turbines. Saravanan research interests include simulation of marine operations, dynamic analysis using probabilistic methods and operation and maintenance of wind turbines. Before joining UMaine, he completed his master’s degree from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway. During his master’s thesis, he worked on dynamic modelling and analysis of offshore wind turbine blade using jack-up crane vessels. 

Amir is currently working as a doctoral student at Dr. Verma’s WEMO Lab. The focus area of his PhD research is the impact modelling and damage assessment of wind turbine blades including novel fiber hybridization techniques. Before joining UMaine, he completed his masters degree from the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), The Netherlands, and the Technical University of Denmark in Aerospace and Wind Energy Engineering. During his master’s  thesis, he worked on the failure of wind turbine blades under anti-plane loading. Besides research, Amir loves reading books, listening to country music and drinking coffee. 

Patrick is a military veteran and retiree which makes him a non-traditional student. He worked for 30 years in the military and commercial aerospace industry and for 6 years in academia,  where he taught undergraduate solid mechanics courses. Patrick is now fully retired and focused on his lifelong educational pursuits. Patrick is currently working as a doctoral student at Dr. Verma’s WEMO Lab. The focus area of his PhD research is wind turbine blade service life prediction using durability and damage tolerance analysis. Besides research, Patrick enjoys traveling, golfing, skiing, and gaming. 

Sam is currently a mechanical engineering master’s student working with Dr. Verma and the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center (ASCC). His master’s research is focused on marine operations for floating offshore wind turbines, specifically the tow-out and installation operations. Sam got his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Maine in 2023 and previously worked as an undergraduate research assistant for the ASCC’s Offshore Wind Team.  

Aenor is working with Dr.Verma as a master’s student. Her research is focused on investigating the wake dynamics of floating offshore wind turbine under the influence of inertial particles. Before UMaine, she obtained her bachelor degree in mechanical engineering with a concentration in fluid dynamics from ENSEEIHT engineering school in Toulouse, France, where she is pursuing her studies to obtain a double master degree. 

Isaac is currently working for Dr. Verma as a master’s student on the VolturnUS+ floating offshore wind project. The focus area of his current research is on improvements to instrumentation and environmental monitoring of floating offshore wind turbines. Isaac is a recent graduate of Maine Maritime Academy’s Marine Systems Engineering program where he helped develop the Academic Officer position in the Regiment of Midshipmen. He is passionate about learning and teaching in all forms and loves climbing, factory games, and coffee. 

Max is a mechanical engineering student working with Dr. Verma and the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center as an undergraduate research assistant. His work here is focused on offshore wind turbines and he focuses mainly with research on the movements of offshore wind turbines during installation. He was born in Maine and spent two years in Utah before coming back to Maine for school. His hobbies include skiing, fishing, and hiking.

Hlib is an international student from Ukraine currently working in Dr. Verma's WEMO lab. His role is to assist in research of the wake created by offshore wind turbines. Hlib is pursuing bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and dreams of becoming an astronaut. He is very passionate about learning new things about engineering and space while his other hobbies include wrestling and music.

Henry is a student currently working in the WEMO Lab  as an undergraduate research assistant. His area of research is tension in fiber optic cables due to light scattering and fiber attenuation. He is currently pursuing a bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering, with a concentration in aerospace engineering. After college, he wants to work for Porsche or a similar company developing high end powertrains.

Braeden is a mechanical engineering student working with Dr. Verma’s WEMO lab. His role is to assist in research of the wake created by offshore wind turbines. Braeden is pursuing a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering. After college, he wants to work in the aerospace industry. His hobbies include hunting, fishing, and wrestling.

Hayden is an undergraduate mechanical engineering student who assists in Dr. Verma’s WEMO lab. His area of research is mainly focused on wind tunnel testing and improvements. Hayden also researches PFAS chemical degradation/absorption in two other labs with the University of Maine, and his hobbies include running and making music. 

Tristan is a french student working with Dr.Verma as a summer intern. His research is focused on offshore wind turbine experiments in the multi-phase Crosby wind tunnel. He's mainly working on CFD simulations to enhance and understand better the experiments that are going on in Crosby. In parallel with this internship, he's studying as a master student in fluid mechanics engineering in France at ENSEEIHT as he obtained his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering last year. 

Emmanuel joined Dr. Verma's team as an intern, where he worked on research examining the wake generated by offshore wind turbines. His responsibilities included creating 3D models of experimental components and constructing a settling chamber with a honeycomb structure to reduce turbulence in the wind tunnel. He also contributed to the development and execution of experimental tests to analyze the wake effects behind a stationary porous disk and conducted post-processing analysis. 

Elouen is a French student currently doing a summer internship under the supervision of Dr. Verma. His research focuses on the physical modeling and simulation of the turbulent wake generated by wind turbines in the presence of water droplets. He is developing a multiphase fluid dynamics model that accurately reproduces the experimental results obtained in the Crosby multiphase wind tunnel, with the ultimate goal of applying it to large-scale offshore wind turbine studies. Alongside this internship, Elouen is pursuing a master’s degree in fluid mechanics engineering at ENSEEIHT (France), after earning a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering last year. 

Lilou is currently completing a research internship under the supervision of Dr. Verma, focusing on the wake behavior of a dual-rotor wind turbine model. She is pursuing a master’s degree in mechanical engineering with a specialization in fluid dynamics at ENSEEIHT in Toulouse, France.