As a graduate of Mechanical Engineering whose undergraduate research was primarily focused on the mathematical modelling of vehicle dynamics, the question I am asked most often is why I decided to pursue a PhD in Bioengineering. Me, as a first year undergraduate would have asked the same question. It took me four years studying mechanics as an undergraduate to realize that we are living in the greatest engineering creation of all time; nature itself. Evolution has devised the best solutions for most of the problems that living beings have stumbled across. So, why re-invent the wheel? Since the dawn of this understanding, I have decided to explore more into the brilliant and creative solutions found in nature for the questions that has always baffled us.

Wear has always been an area where scientific community has struggled to make progress because of the inherent difficulties in modelling and understanding complex interactions between multiple bodies specially in the nano and micro levels. Not only humans but many living creatures have to manage wear in their interactions with the environment. Hence, investigating the solutions that nature has come up with to manage this issue can provide us valuable insights and inspiration for better designs. In my PhD, I’ll be looking into the strategies used by herbivorous insects to reduce wear in their mouthparts and how plants are adapted to induce more wear. This will not only transform the way we understand nature, but it will open up new avenues in the field of engineering where managing wear is crucial.

When it is time to come back to the macro world, I love to let off the steam by designing and operating RC aircraft and cars, engaging in motorsports, or forgetting myself in a world of pencil drawings.