Mamidala Ramulu

Dr. Ramulu Mamidala (M. Ramulu) is a mechanical engineering professor at University of Washington. Usually goes by the name 'Ram', or 'M.R.', he is recognized for his leadership and outstanding record in promoting collaborative education and research with industry. He is currently the director of Manufacturing Science and Technology Laboratory (MSTL) at Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Washington. He has designed and developed manufacturing methods for a wide range of systems, from the B2 bomber to the Boeing 787. Additionally, in collaboration with industry, he established and directed two interdisciplinary graduate educational programs in engineering and management and a certificate program in composites tooling and manufacturing. 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.
Ramulu has been a faculty member in mechanical engineering, UW since 1982, and adjunct professor in Industrial & Systems Engineering and Materials Science & Engineering. He has been a devoted mentor, educator and researcher for over 35 years of his career at University of Washington. He established and directed two graduate educational programs and developed a certificate program in Composite Materials & Manufacturing that serves working aerospace engineers in collaboration with The Boeing Company.
He is a recipient of the NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award and the Technology Award from Waterjet Technology Association. He has published more than 500 technical papers in refereed journals and conference proceedings, edited five ASME Symposium Proceedings and co-edited a book, "Machining of Ceramics and Composites". He is one of the founding members of Machining Science and Technology Journal and serves as a member of the editorial boards of five other scientific journals. He is a Fellow of ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers), ASM International(American Society for Metals), SEM (Society of Experimental Mechanics), SME (Society of Manufacturing Engineers).
He has supervised more than 250 graduate students, was awarded the Outstanding Teacher in the College of Engineering Award (1985–86) and was ranked among the top 10 professors at the University of Washington by graduating students in the TYEE yearbook (1986). He was awarded the ASM-IIM International Lectureship Award (1985–86), SAE's Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award (1987), ASEE's AT&T Foundation Award for Excellence in Instruction of Engineering Students (1989); and the Faculty Excellence Award from the Minority Science & Engineering Program (1991). His efforts to foster university—industry collaboration have been recognized with the "Academic Engineer of the Year" Award (1994) from the Puget Sound Engineering Council, Washington, and an Ed Wells Summer Faculty Fellowship from Boeing (1997). For his excellence in online teaching and innovation. he was awarded the 2004 R1.edu Award, and for his contributions to distance education, he won the 2012 Distinguished Contribution to Life-Long Learning Award.
Education.
Professor Ramulu received a B.E. in mechanical engineering with distinction from Osmania University, India; MTech in production engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. He completed his doctoral degree at University of Washington in 1982 under Dr. Kobayashi's guidance.
University of Washington, Seattle, WA <br>
PhD in Mechanical Engineering <br>
Date of Graduation: March 1982 <br>
Dissertation: Dynamic Crack Curving and Branching <br>
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Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India <br>
Master of Technology (MTech) in Production Engineering <br>
Date of Graduation: June 1976 <br>
Thesis: Identification and Optimization of Cutting Process <br>
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Osmania University, Hyderabad, India <br>
Bachelor of Engineering (BE) in Mechanical Engineering with Distinction <br>
Date of Graduation: June 1974<br>
Teaching.
He teaches 4-5 undergraduate/graduate courses every calendar year at the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Washington. These courses include mechanics of materials, fracture mechanics, fatigue, and advanced manufacturing processes.
Research.
Mamidala's research interests reflect the multi-disciplinary nature of materials, mechanics and manufacturing engineering, and primarily focuses on aircraft materials and structures. His research endeavors span from Fracture Mechanics, fatigue and manufacturing. 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. His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Boeing. GE Super Abrasives, Paccar, TRW, Flow International, Quest, Electroimpact, Kyocera, Pacific Northwest Labs, McDonnell Douglas, and the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. He is an international expert on the machining and surface integrity of composite materials and structures.
Publications.
1. Edwards, P. D., & Ramulu, M. (2015). Material flow during friction stir welding of Ti-6Al-4V. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 218, 107 115. doi:https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2014.11.046
2. Gangwar, K., Ramulu, M., Cantrell, A., & Sanders, D. G. (2016). Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Friction Stir Welded Dissimilar Titanium Alloys: TIMET-54M and ATI-425. Metals, 6(10), 252.
3. Gururaja, S., Ramulu, M., & Pedersen, W. (2013). Machining of MMCs: a review. Machining Science and Technology, 17(1), 41–73.
4. Mohan, R., Ramulu, M., Kim, T. J., & Geskin, E. S. (1997). State of the art of research and development in abrasive waterjet machining.
5. Pahuja, R., Ramulu, M., & Hashish, M. (2016). Abrasive Waterjet Profile Cutting of Thick Titanium/Graphite Fiber Metal Laminate. Retrieved from https://dx.doi.org/10.1115/IMECE2016-67136
6. Ramulu, M., Branson, T., & Kim, D. (2001). A study on the drilling of composite and titanium stacks. Composite Structures, 54(1), 67–77. doi:10.1016/S0263-8223(01)00071-X
7. Ramulu, M., & Kobayashi, A. S. (1985). Mechanics of crack curving and branching—a dynamic fracture analysis. International Journal of Fracture, 27(3), 187–201.
8. Wang, D. H., Ramulu, M., & Arola, D. (1995). Orthogonal cutting mechanisms of graphite/epoxy composite. Part I: unidirectional laminate. International Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture, 35(12), 1623–1638. doi:https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0890-6955(95)00014-O
9. Pahuja, Rishi, and M. Ramulu. "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/
Past Students.
Dr. Ramulu has successfully supervised over 250 Masters and PhD students so far.
Awards.
Dr. Ramulu is a Presidential Young Investigator and a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), ASM International, Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM) and recently (April, 2007), a Fellow of Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME). He has been recognized as an outstanding teacher and mentor at the University of Washington.
Dr. Ramulu, who has supervised more than 200 graduate students, was awarded the Outstanding Teacher in the College of Engineering Award (1985–86) and was ranked among the top 10 professors at the University of Washington by graduating students in the TYEE yearbook (1986). He was awarded the ASM-IIM International Lectureship Award (1985–86), SAE's Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award (1987), ASEE's AT&T Foundation Award for Excellence in Instruction of Engineering Students (1989); and the Faculty Excellence Award from the Minority Science & Engineering Program (1991). His efforts to foster university—industry collaboration have been recognized with the "Academic Engineer of the Year" Award (1994) from the Puget Sound Engineering Council, Washington, and an Ed Wells Summer Faculty Fellowship from Boeing (1997). For his excellence in online teaching and innovation. he was awarded the 2004 R1.edu Award, and for his contributions to distance education, he won the 2012 Distinguished Contribution to Life-Long Learning Award.He has also won the national youth award.