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Welcome to my webpage. I am Dr. Pabitra Badhuk, an assistant professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at IIT Kharagpur. My research interests include gas turbine combustor design for hydrogen, investigation of fundamental flame properties, droplet dynamics, and novel fire suppression strategies. I use advanced experimental and numerical techniques such as laser diagnostics and high-fidelity CFD to investigate the above research areas. Before joining IIT Kharagpur, I worked in GE Aerospace, designing lean-burn and rich-burn combustors for next-gen aviation fuels. My association with GE Aerospace has granted me seven US patents related to the design of gas turbine combustors. The generation of clean energy is the foremost problem towards achieving a net-zero carbon economy by the end of the century. I believe combustion engineers have a major role to play towards this goal.

PRESENT POSITION (July 2024 - Now)

Assistant Professor, IIT Kharagpur, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

My research focuses on mitigating the environmental impact of the aviation sector as well as ensuring the safe operation of novel propulsion/battery technologies. I am currently studying the vortex breakdown phenomenon in swirl-stabilized combustors, the flashback phenomenon in Hydrogen combustors, and risk mitigation strategies associated with hydrogen detonation using chemically active flame inhibitors.

INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE

2022-2024 Lead Engineer, GE Aerospace, Bengaluru

Developed lean-burn micromixer designs operating with next-gen aviation fuels.
Developed combustor architecture for the Airbus ZEROe program.
Developed numerical methods to predict combustor failure through flame flashback.
Our team's work led to the publication of multiple patents.

2015-2016 Officer, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Mumbai