Bhuvana Srinivasan named Crofton Faculty Fellow in Engineering

6 May 2021

Bhuvana Srinivasan, Crofton faculty fellow — Bhuvana Srinivasan. Photo by Jama Green for Virginia Tech.

Bhuvana Srinivasan, associate professor of aerospace and ocean engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, has been named the Crofton Faculty Fellow in Engineering by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.

The Kevin Crofton Professorial Endowment in Aerospace and Ocean Engineering was established with a generous gift from alumnus Kevin Crofton. The endowment supports the work of outstanding professors within the Kevin T. Crofton Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering, including support for tenured professors, faculty fellowships, and assistance in retention of top-performing faculty members.

Srinivasan will serve as the Crofton Faculty Fellow for a five-year term.

A member of the Virginia Tech faculty since 2014, Srinivasan has built a research program in critical technologies of national strategic importance, including plasma-material interactions and high-energy-density plasmas for fusion, propulsion, and national security applications. Her research is important for spacecraft and satellite propulsion and nuclear fusion for solving terrestrial energy needs for all of humanity.

Srinivasan’s scholarship is at the unique intersection of plasma physics and aerospace engineering, and has attracted $6.5 million in grants to support her program which includes two postdoctoral researchers, eight Ph.D. students, and several master’s degree and undergraduate students.

A hallmark of her research program is collaboration with leading national laboratories such as the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Los Alamos National Laboratory. These collaborations provide many mentorship and career opportunities for her students.

In recognition of her work, she received the Outstanding New Assistant Professor Award from the College of Engineering in 2017.

Srinivasan received two bachelor’s degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology and a master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Washington, Seattle.

Bhuvana Srinivasan earns NSF CAREER award to study plasma physics in exploding stars