Biography

I am Dr. Abhiteja Konda from Hyderabad, a metropolitan city in Southern India. I graduated in 2018 with a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Nebraska. Before moving to the USA in 2013, I worked as an Assistant Quality Manager for a Diagnostic Service provider in India where I applied the knowledge I gained through my masters at the University of Bergen, Norway and the University of Barcelona, Spain (2010-2012). I am honored to receive a Erasmus Mundus Scholarship to pursue this Joint European Masters in Quality in Analytical Laboratories. Before this, I completed my Bachelors in Pharmacy in Aug 2010 from the Vinayaka Missions University, India with a Gold Medal.

I like designing and building things, which motivated me to develop a unique skill set that encompasses various fabrication and characterization tools. These include various fabrication—AutoCAD, L-edit, photolithography, softlithography, direct laser writing, and characterization—electron microscopy, surface characterization, mechanical testing tools.

Seeking professional growth as a research scientist or engineer in manufacturing R&D. I am interested in applying my current knowledge and experience in additive manufacturing, material synthesis, advanced characterization techniques, and my quality management background towards developing new or enhancing existing products/technologies within the materials science and engineering area.

Technical Skills

Fabrication: Photolithography, Surface passivation, Wet/Dry etching, ECD, Wet Processing

Material Characterization: Electrical (resistivity, four-point probe), Optical (spectroscopy and microscopy), Physical and Chemical (electron microscopy [SEM, TEM], XRD, EDX)

Data Analysis: MATLAB, Microsoft Office Suite (Excel)

Design: L-Edit, 3D CAD (AutoCAD, Inventor)

Quality Management: Design of Experiments, Statistical Process Control (SPC), Hazard Analysis, L6S, Fishbone, 5 Why’s, ISO 19011, ISO 15189

Outreach

Over the past decade, I have developed interest in communicating science and motivate younger generations to pursue STEM education. We developed several educational and outreach activities to introduce the concepts of soft robotics and general fabrication strategies such as 3D printing, soft lithography, replica molding, etc., to the community. The activity was developed and improved over the course of five years through feedback from users at various levels (e.g., middle to high school, college level, and adults). Through these events we have reached over 1500 people.