Arjun Kulathuvayal Successfully Defends Ph.D. Dissertation

Arjun Kulathuvayal successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Oklahoma on June 15, 2026. His dissertation, titled “Optimization of Energy Storage Materials through Ab-initio Calculations and Deep Learning Techniques in Material Science,” focused on combining first-principles simulations and deep learning methods to study lithium-ion transport in energy storage materials.

His research developed machine learning models to predict ion migration behavior in solid electrolyte interphase materials, contributing to faster and more efficient computational screening of battery materials. The work highlights the growing role of artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and atomistic simulation in advancing next-generation energy storage technologies.

Arjun completed his doctoral research under the guidance of Dr. Yanqing Su, with committee members Dr. Hanping Ding, Dr. Bin Xu, and Dr. Binbin Weng.