He is currently the director of Manufacturing Science and Technology Laboratory (MSTL) at Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Washington.
His exemplary collaborative efforts motivated working engineers to pursue doctoral studies and he is a leader in using emerging technologies in distance education to reach non-traditional students.
[citation needed] University of Washington, Seattle, WA PhD in Mechanical Engineering Date of Graduation: March 1982 Dissertation: Dynamic Crack Curving and Branching
At present, his primary focus is on advanced and unconventional manufacturing processes: Abrasive waterjet, Diffusion Bonding and Superplasticity, EDM (Electrical Discharge Machining) and Friction Stir Welding.
GE Super Abrasives, Paccar, TRW, Flow International, Quest, Electroimpact, Kyocera, Pacific Northwest Labs, McDonnell Douglas, and the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.
"Abrasive water jet machining of Titanium (Ti6Al4V)–CFRP stacks–A semi-analytical modeling approach in the prediction of kerf geometry" Journal of Manufacturing Processes 39 (2019): 327–337.
The full list of publications can be found at https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ZAxgNpYAAAAJ&hl=en, http://depts.washington.edu/mstlab/publications/ Dr. Ramulu has successfully supervised over 250 Masters and PhD students so far.
The PhD graduates under his supervision include: Dr. D. H. Wang, 1993; Title: Machining Characteristics of Graphite/Epoxy Composites; Current: Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kyungnam University, Korea; http://mecha.kyungnam.ac.kr/prof/dhwang/ Dr. S.P.
Raju, 1994; Title: Theoretical and Experimental Investigations into the Material Removal Process During Abrasive Waterjet Cutting; Current: The Bosch USA Dr. C.W.
Wern, 1995; Title: Fiber and Fiber-Matrix Interface Effects on the Orthogonal Cutting of Fiber Reinforced Plastics; Current: Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Portland State University, OR; http://www.me.pdx.edu/~wernc/ Dr. Dwayne Arola, 1996; Title: Abrasive Waterjet Manufacturing Effects on the Structural Integrity of Fiber-Reinforced Plastics; Current: Professor, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA Dr. Farzad Zafari, 1997; Title: Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Elastic-Plastic Mixed Mode Fracture in High Strength Aluminum Alloys; Current: Technical Fellow, Damage Tolerance, The Boeing Company Dr. Zihong Guo, 1998; Title: Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Machining Damage in Structural Ceramics; Current: Director of Alliance Management, Intellectual Ventures, Bellevue, WA Dr. Patrick Stickler, 2001; Title: Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Transversely Stitched T-joint.
Dr. Dave (Dae-wook) Kim, 2002; Title: Machining and Drilling Of Hybrid Composites; Current: Professor and Mechanical Engineering Program Coordinator, Washington State University, Vancouver, WA; https://labs.wsu.edu/dave-kim/ (Late) Dr. Kunaporn Sawalee, 2002; Title: An Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Waterjet Peening of 7075-T6 Aluminum Alloy; Formerly, Assistant Professor, Institute of Engineering and Resources Technology Walailuk, Thailand; Expired in August 2005 Dr. William Pedersen, 2003; Title: Machinability of Functionally Gradient Al/SiC Metal Matrix Composite; Current: Director of Engineering at Lake Superior Consulting, Duluth, Minnesota.
Dr. Franna Pitt, 2005; Title: Effect of Simulated Superplastic Forming Processing on the Mechanical Properties of Three Titanium Alloys; Retired, Formerly Associate Technical Fellow, The Boeing Company, Seattle Dr. Suhasini Gururaja, 2008; Title: Analytical Modeling of Orthogonal Cutting of FRPs; Current: Associate Professor, Aerospace Engineering, Auburn University, AL Dr. Dan Sanders, 2008; Title: – Development of Friction Stir Welding Combined with Superplastic Forming Processes for the Fabrication of Titanium Structures; Retired, Senior Technical Fellow, Boeing Research & Technology (BR&T), Metallic Materials & Processes, The Boeing Company, Seattle Dr. Paul D. Edwards, 2010; Title: Friction Stir Welding of Ti-6Al-4V Sheet and Plate for Aerospace Structures; Current: Director, Materials Engineering, Tesla Motors, Pala Alto, CA Dr. Timothy M. Briggs, 2010; Title: Rate Dependent and Low Velocity Impact Characterization of Composites; Current: Research Scientist, Sandia National Laboratories, CA Dr. Alex M Chillman, 2010; Title: Energy-Based Modeling of Ultra High-Pressure Waterjet Surface Preparation Processes Including Milling, Peening, and Texturing Applications; Current: Director, Product Development, Fluke Materials, Seattle, WA.
Dr. Heechang Bae, 2011; Title: Experimental Study of Shot Peening Process and its Effects on High Cycle Fatigue in Aerospace Materials; Current: Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering & Mechanical Engineering Technology, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA Dr. Julio Davis, 2012; Title: Analytical Modeling and Applications of Residual Stresses Induced by Shot Peening; Current: Stress Engineer, SMA, The Boeing Company, Everett, WA Dr. Alex P O’Connor, 2013; Title: Machinability of Aerospace Tooling Materials For Composite Repairs; Current: The Boeing Company, Machining Technology R&D, Auburn, WA Dr. Eshetu D Eneyew, 2014; Title: Experimental Study of Damage and Defect Detection during Drilling of CFRP Composites; Current: NDT Engineer, The Boeing Company, Charleston, SC; Adjunctive Professor of Physics, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC Dr. Jeffery Miller, 2014; Title: Investigation of Machinability and Dust Emissions in Edge Trimming of Laminated Carbon Fiber Composites; Current: Senior Technical Fellow, The Boeing Company, Seattle Dr. Neha Kulkarni, 2015; Title: Study the Mechanical Performance of Similar and Dissimilar Titanium Alloy Joints Formed by Diffusion Bonding and Friction Stir welding Processes; Current: Honeywell Aerospace, Redmond, WA Dr. Todd W. Morton, 2015; Title: Solid State Joining of Dissimilar Titanium Alloys; Current: The Boeing Company, Seattle Dr. Renuka Prabhakar, 2017; Title: Advancements In Process Development And Mechanical Properties Of Recycled Glass Building Materials Through Experimentation And Analytical Modeling; Current: President and CEO EnVitrum; Lecturer, Everett Community College, Everett, WA.
Dr. Kapil D. Gangwar, 2017; Title: Friction Stir Welding of Dissimilar Titanium Alloys: Mechanical and Metallurgical Characterization; Current: Assistant Professor, Oregon Institute of Technology, Klamath Falls, Oregon Dr. Stefan Hovik, 2019; Project: Low Velocity Impact Damage Modeling and Simulation of Titanium-Graphite Composite Laminate; Current: The Boeing Company Dr. Rishi Pahuja, 2018; Project: Machining of metal composite stacks and hybrid aerospace materials through milling and Abrasive Water Jet; Current: Caltech Optical Observatories, CA Dr. Harinder.
S. Oberoi, 2019; Project: Machined Surface Integrity Effects on the Strength Properties, Damage Evolution and Fatigue Strength of Composite Laminates; Current: 777-X Program, Manufacturing, The Boeing Company Dr. Nishita Anandan, 2019; Project: Study of Machinability of Metal Matrix Composites and its Effect on Surface Integrity; Current: Post Doctoral Fellow in Materials Lab, Mechanical Engineering, University of Washington, WA.
Dr. Bryan Ferguson, 2020; Project: Modeling and Experimental Analysis of Superplastic Forming and Diffusion Bonding; Current: Research Scientist, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, CA Dr. Sean Ghods, 2021, Ph.D. in Material Science and Engineering (Co-advising with Prof D. Arola); Project: Origins of Variability in Electron Beam Powder Fusion of Ti6Al4V; Current: Reliability Engineer, Microsoft Corporation, WA Dr. Sai Krovvidi, 2021; Project: Thermomechanical Modeling of the Percussive Riveting Process; Current: Structures Engineer, Textron Aviation Defense, Wichita, KS Dr. Abdullah Alajmi, 2021; Project: Characterization and Modeling of the Leading Edge Erosion of Wind Turbine Blades due to Sand Particles Impingement; Current: Assistant Professor, Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait.