Teaching

Engineering Thermodynamics I

Texas Tech University, Fall 2023, ME 2323

This course introduces properties of pure substances, ideal gas behavior, first and second law analysis, and applications to energy conversion and power cycles. It would train students to understand nomenclature and terms used in thermodynamics, determine determine thermodynamic properties of engineering substances using property tables and equation, develop in-depth understanding of work and heat, apply conservation of mass and conservation of energy principles to closed, steady state and transient systems, conduct second law analysis of systems using entropy and entropy generation, analyze basic gas and vapor power cycles, and finally organize and logically solve thermodynamics problems.

Independent Study

Texas Tech University, Fall 2023, ME 4331

This course will involve training undergraduate students on different aspects of conducting biomedical research in a laboratory setting. The students will first do an in-depth literature review of peer-reviewed scientific articles assigned by the course supervisor. Some of the typical examples include using nanoparticles for cancer and cardiovascular imaging, image-guided surgical interventions, and pathogen diagnostics. The students will then be trained on different characterization instrumentations in the supervisor’s laboratory which includes Nanoparticle size analyzer, Raman spectroscopy, and UV-Vis absorption to name a few. Subsequently, when the students have taken all the necessary training, they will be part of a team that does: (i) nanoparticle synthesis, (ii) nanoparticle characterization by size and spectroscopy, (iii) tumor-mimicking phantom preparation and depth-penetration studies, and (iv) mammalian cell culture training for evaluating nanoparticle toxicity and cell internalization.

To continue having independent study with The Srivastava Lab, we anticipate the undergraduate students to demonstrate continued motivation and active participation in research experiments. At the end of one year, we anticipate that the undergraduate student will have contributed to (i) a research study that will be published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal and (ii) an innovative review article in the field of image-guided cancer surgery or surface-enhanced Raman scattering nanoprobes for disease diagnostics.