Abhishek Kumar is currently working as a Graduate Assistant at the Texas A&M University, College Station, TX since August 2023. Before joining TAMU, he served as Graduate Student Researcher (Master of Science Scholar) in Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California Merced, U.S.A. from January 2021 to August 2023. He received his M.Tech in Design Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India in 2016, and Bachelor of Engineering degree (honors) in Mechanical Engineering from Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya, Bhopal in 2014. He has worked as Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Jabalpur Engineering College Jabalpur M.P. India from January 2018- December 2020. He has worked as summer visiting researcher at Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur from June 2018- July 2018. He has previously worked as an Assistant Professor at Galgotias University, Greater Noida (U.P.) from Sept. 2017 – Dec. 2017, and Parul University, Vadodara (Gujarat) from June 2016 – Sept. 2017. He qualified GATE-2014 with 99.25 percentile in 2014 and was awarded GATE fellowship by the Government of India. His M.Tech. thesis was based on the investigation of nano-wear in Mg-based composites in collaboration with National University of Singapore, Singapore. 

    He has very keen interest to work on the tribological characterization of interacting surfaces. He has experience of more than eight years as an Assistant Professor and a Graduate Student Researcher to work with tribological systems, and their surface and wear characterization. He has gained hands-on experience of working with sophisticated experimental equipment in the past eight and half years and has utilized his experimental skills to successfully complete several research projects with reputed industrial partners such as Chevron Corporation, SpaceX, Chevron-Phillips, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, etc. and academic collaborators such as National University of Singapore, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, California State University Chico, Illinois State University Normal, etc. 

    He has utilized his exposure to demanding and challenging projects by publishing four peer-reviewed articles in high impact journals and presenting his work in five international conferences and publishing articles in two conference proceedings. He has worked as Book Editor and Book Proposal Reviewer for CRC Press, Taylor & Francis USA, and reviewed two book proposals, edited one book and authored six book chapters. He frequently volunteers as a peer-reviewer for more than four high impact journals (Journal of Magnesium and Alloys (IF=11.862), Lubricants (IF=3.584), Journal of Composites Science (IF=3.49), Tribology Transactions (IF=2.056)), and has been recognized as a Certified Peer Reviewer by Elsevier and MDPI. He has been selected as the Outstanding Reviewer by the Journal of Magnesium and Alloys (11.862 impact factor) due to his extraordinary contributions to the journal. He is also member of several professional societies such as The American Society of Mechanical Engineers – ASME, The Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers – STLE, The American Ceramic Society – ACerS , The Association for Iron and Steel Technology – AIST, The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society – TMS, and ASM International – ASM. He is currently involved in the research which involves Tribology, Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Material Characterization, Mechanical Testing, Mechanical Properties, Microstructure, Nanomaterials, Material Characteristics, Materials and Materials Processing.

• Skilled Mechanical Engineer with 8+ years of experience mentoring students, designing, and maintaining tools and equipment, developing techniques, performing cutting-edge research in a collaborative environment, and scientific writing and presentation

• Seeking to leverage my expertise to join as a Mechanical Engineer, Materials Engineer, or Project Manager

• Experience: 4.5 years as an Assistant Professor, and 4 years as a Teaching Assistant and Graduate Student Researcher

• Author: 3 peer-reviewed articles, 6 book chapters, 5 conference presentations, and 2 conference proceedings

• Reviewer: 28 manuscripts and 3 book proposals

• Experimental Skills:  Tribometry, Material Characterization, Surface Characterization, 3D Printing, Mechanical Testing

• Equipment Specialization: Polisher, Nano-indenter, Tribometer (Pin-on-disk, Ball-on-disk, Unidirectional Sliding Test, Reciprocating Test, Fretting Wear, Nano-scratch Test), Four Ball Machine, Optical Microscope, Scanning Electron Microscope, Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscope, Interferometer, Profilometer, Atomic Force Microscope, X-Ray Diffractometer

• Software Skills:  AutoCAD, CES-EDU, Origin, SolidWorks, ANSYS, MatLab, Overleaf, Inventor, Gwyddion, Fiji/ImageJ

• Managerial Skills: 

Leading and mentoring 5 graduate and 5 undergraduate researchers at Martini Research Lab

Previously guided 10+ undergraduate and graduate student projects as an Assistant Professor in India

• Prime Focus: Surface Roughness, Friction, Wear, Energy Dissipation, Dry Sliding, Greases, Coatings, Soft Tribology