# Ramesh M — Engineering Portfolio

> Propulsion, thermal-fluid and CFD engineering across analysis, design and hardware testing.

I connect numerical analysis, design and hardware testing to understand how thermal and fluid systems behave, where a model is useful, and where its limits matter.

Employer project descriptions are intentionally high-level. Figures from the MTech thesis are academic source material; employer cases use conceptual or catalogue illustrations.

## Experience

### CFD Engineer — Praan Inc. · Mumbai

- Analyse airflow and pressure losses in air-purification systems using OpenFOAM and Fluent to identify restrictions and assess design changes.
- Develop parametric fan housings, ducts and filter layouts in Fusion 360, balancing airflow requirements with packaging and manufacturing constraints.
- Write Python tools for geometry generation, CFD preparation and post-processing, making design studies easier to repeat.
- Conduct fan-speed, clean-air delivery rate (CADR) and noise tests across operating modes, documenting filter conditions and measurement limitations.
- Optimised the OpenFOAM solver, substantially cutting steady-state runtime, while assessing mesh-dependent settings, convergence checks and numerical precision before reuse in other cases.

### Propulsion Engineer — Agnikul Cosmos · Chennai

- Took flight check valves from P&ID-based requirements through supplier assessment, procurement and qualification, supporting their release for flight.
- Prepared test fixtures and procedures, conducted functional and leak tests, and coordinated thermal, vibration and cryogenic qualification activities.
- Developed an OpenFOAM conjugate heat-transfer workflow for regenerative engine cooling, coupling hot-gas loading, wall conduction and coolant flow.
- Analysed cooling-manifold flow distribution and pressure losses to guide geometry changes.
- Compared coolant-temperature predictions with firing measurements, accounting for differences in operating conditions and instrumentation.

### MTech, Thermal and Propulsion — Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology · Thiruvananthapuram

- Investigated methane-air flame stabilisation in a swirl and bluff-body burner using reacting-flow CFD in ANSYS Fluent.
- Examined how recirculation, mixing and scalar dissipation influence flame anchoring across lean operating conditions.
- Assessed numerical predictions against benchmark and laboratory measurements, and presented the research as a work-in-progress poster at ASPACC 2025.

### Design Engineer — MaDeIT Innovation Foundation · Chennai

- Translated requirements from incubated deep-tech startups into mechanical CAD models and engineering analyses using CATIA V5 and ANSYS Workbench.
- Designed a carbon-fibre monocoque UAV airframe and evaluated static, drop and aerodynamic loading through structural and fluid–structure interaction analyses.

### Project Intern — DRDO Centre for Airborne Systems · Bangalore

- Compared the external aerodynamics of an A321 airframe with and without a radome using CFD to assess the installation’s aerodynamic effects.

### B.E., Aeronautical Engineering — Kumaraguru College of Technology · Anna University · Coimbatore

- Led a four-person UAV flight-systems team, contributing to aircraft design, analysis and fabrication.
- Graduated with First Class with Distinction; received the Technical Star – Research award for work during my undergraduate years.

## MTech research — methane-air flame stabilisation

At the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), I investigated flame stabilisation in the IIST-GS1 swirl and bluff-body burner. I used ANSYS Fluent, reacting-flow RANS, a modified k-epsilon turbulence model with Pope's correction, and steady flamelet modelling. Benchmark and laboratory comparisons informed model assessment and interpretation of recirculation and flame anchoring.

My main contribution was the numerical investigation, post-processing and interpretation. I also helped with rig setup and camera arrangement. The laboratory team conducted the PIV and flame measurements.

Selected thesis figures show the burner and section drawing, computational mesh, vortex-breakdown bubble at global equivalence ratio 0.2, axial velocity and streamlines at 0.8, temperature with a stoichiometric mixture-fraction line at 0.2, and non-reacting axial velocity profiles. A header pair sets the computed OH* field at 0.8 (thesis Fig. 7.21) beside a photograph of the measured flame at 0.8, taken by the laboratory team. The original scales and annotations are retained. These mean-flow results and qualitative flame comparisons should not be described as pointwise validation of the reacting field or proof of unsteady flame behaviour.

- [Visual research gallery](index.html#combustion)
- [Research summary with methods and evidence](assets/MTech_Combustion_Research_Summary.pdf)

## Flight check-valve qualification — Agnikul Cosmos

I worked across component selection, supplier coordination and test execution for flight check valves. I translated P&ID needs into cracking-pressure and flow requirements, assessed suppliers, supported sourcing, and prepared fixtures and procedures.

I conducted functional and leak testing and coordinated or reviewed other qualification work. The programme included functional, leak, thermal, vibration and LN2 cryogenic checks. Test outcomes and supplier evidence supported requirement closure and flight qualification.

This work concerns component qualification. It does not establish ownership of a complete vehicle feed-system architecture. The Swagelok and Lee Company images are credited catalogue photographs of representative valve types; they do not identify the exact tested models.

- [Qualification case and image sources](index.html#valves)

## Regenerative-cooling CHT — Agnikul Cosmos

I built an OpenFOAM conjugate heat-transfer workflow coupling hot-gas loading, wall conduction and coolant flow. I used NASA CEA in the thermochemical setup, progressed from reduced-order loading and wall/coolant calculations toward coupled gas-solid-coolant modelling, and reviewed heat transfer and conservation.

I compared predicted coolant return with firing measurements, interpreting differences alongside operating conditions and sensor placement. Geometry, operating and instrumentation differences limit the comparison; it does not establish exact full-engine validation. Internal geometry and numerical results are withheld.

- [Cooling case](index.html#cooling)

## Education, recognition and communication

- MTech in Thermal and Propulsion, IIST, conferred 23 June 2025.
- B.E. in Aeronautical Engineering, Anna University, studied at Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore; First Class with Distinction (examinations held June 2021).
- MTech combustion work selected for an ASPACC 2025 work-in-progress poster presentation in Singapore.
- Technical Star – Research, Kumaraguru Achievers Awards 2022, recognising my B.E. Aeronautical Engineering years (2017–2021).
- The visual portfolio includes an academic poster photograph and the full poster, the award ceremony photograph and certificate, the IIST and Anna University degree certificates (identification numbers removed) and a CFD meshing presentation photograph. These do not imply endorsements from the organisations pictured.

## Tools

OpenFOAM, ANSYS Fluent, NASA CEA, Python, Fusion 360, CATIA V5 and ANSYS Workbench.

## Resume and contact

- [Download the portfolio resume](assets/Ramesh_M_Resume.pdf)
- [Email Ramesh](mailto:roshanramesh2000@gmail.com)
- [Visual portfolio](index.html)

## Earlier projects and writing

Selected from my earlier portfolio, one card per distinct project:

- [Oscillating flow in a rectangular channel](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-96-8777-0_46) — at 5 Hz, how does the ramp angle affect pressure drop and heat transfer? I compared a clear channel with three obstruction geometries. IAES 2024, published chapter.
- [The Hope Line](assets/decks/hope-line.pdf) — a multi-rotor UAV concept for last-mile delivery of medical supplies. I modelled and assembled its parts in CATIA V5 (full deck, PDF).
- [Aerocopter](assets/decks/aerocopter.pdf) — a compact UAV sized for a 4 kg payload, built around a hyperbolic-paraboloid wing form. Winner, UAV Design Competition, Kalam 2020 (full deck, PDF).
- [Dimple drag study](assets/decks/dimple-drag.pdf) — does dimpling an intercity bus's surface cut aerodynamic drag? CATIA V5 modelling and Ansys Fluent flow analysis, with dimples machined into a wood test specimen, showed drag falling by up to 20% above 20 m/s (full deck, PDF).
- [Amphibious vehicle](assets/decks/amphibious-vehicle.pdf) — an unmanned amphibious vehicle inspired by the flying fish, for underwater applications. Presented at the AIAA SciTech forum, 2021 (full deck, PDF).
- [Gravitational vortex hydropower](assets/projects/6.jpg) — optimising a gravitational vortex hydropower plant's geometry for maximum vortex strength. Presented at NCMDAO 2020, VSSC/ISRO.
- [Aquatic unmanned vehicle](assets/projects/7.jpg) — a study to optimise the shape of an aquatic unmanned vehicle's fuselage, propeller and control surfaces.
- [Acoustic propeller](assets/projects/8.jpg) — modifying a propeller's leading and trailing edges to reduce noise. Presented at the ASME GT India conference, IIT Madras, 2019.
- [Blended wing body UAV](assets/projects/9.jpg) — a blended-wing-body UAV concept for surveillance, a final-year on-campus project.
- [A321 radome](assets/projects/10.jpg) — an external aerodynamic study of the A321 with and without its radome, during an internship at CABS-DRDO, Bangalore.
- [Wing flap](assets/projects/15.jpg) — a wing-flap feature to improve aerodynamic efficiency, during an internship at the Simulation Lab, Pune.
- [SAE Aeromodelling 2020](assets/projects/12.jpg) — a canard-configuration aircraft for the SAE Aeromodelling 2020 competition: CAD, centre-of-gravity assessment and help with model fabrication.

These are earlier concepts and studies, not claims of demonstrated flight performance. Full decks are the original presentations as PDFs; the other links open the original slide image. On the site, both open in an in-page slide viewer in the [earlier projects section](index.html#earlier-work).

## Publications (15)

- Numerical investigation on the effect of obstruction geometry in oscillating flow across rectangular channel (Springer · IAES 2024 · Ramesh M, Navaroj KM and Deepu M) – [Read](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-96-8777-0_46)
- Advanced Unmanned Amphibious System for Marine Border Surveillance (MDPI Aerospace 2022) – [Read](https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace9110652)
- Multi-Disciplinary Optimizations of Small-Scale Gravitational Vortex Hydropower System (MDPI Sustainability 2022) – [Read](https://doi.org/10.3390/su14020727)
- Comparative Estimations of Hydrodynamic Analysis on UAV-Aquatic Propeller (AIAA Propulsion and Energy 2021) – [Read](https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2021-3732)
- Optimization of High Payload UAV Propellers (AIAA Propulsion and Energy 2021) – [Read](https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2021-3729)
- Conceptual Design and Numerical Analysis of an Unmanned Amphibious Vehicle (AIAA SciTech 2021) – [Read](https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2021-1285)
- Passenger Train with Waste Collector near Windows (AIP Conf. Proc. 2021) – [Read](https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0036183)
- Comparative Structural Analysis of Composite UAV Propeller (IOP Conf. Ser. 2021) – [Read](https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/1017/1/012032)
- Design Optimization of Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine Based on High Power Extraction by Using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) (Springer · 2021) – [Read](https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1119-3_24)
- Comparative Investigations on Carbon Fiber Based Composites (J. Phys. Conf. Ser. 2020) – [Read](https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1504/1/012003)
- Comparative Acoustic Analysis of Modified UAV Propeller (Springer NCICEC 2020) – [Read](https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5996-9_45)
- Comparative Structural Characterization of Fiber Reinforced Composite Rotating Disc A Validated Investigation (Tribology in Industry · 2020) – [Read](https://doi.org/10.24874/ti.899.05.20.10)
- Acoustic Investigation on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle’s Rotor Using CFD-MRF Approach (ASME · GT India 2019) – [Read](https://doi.org/10.1115/GTINDIA2019-2430)
- Research of Noise in the UAV Propeller using CFD (IJEAT 2019) – [Read](https://doi.org/10.35940/ijeat.F1031.0886S19)
- Optimization of nozzle and second throat diffuser system for high altitude test using CFD (Journal of Physics: Conference Series · 2019) – [Read](https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1355/1/012012)

These are collaborative publications; listing them does not imply sole authorship.

## Writing and elsewhere

I also write about learning, university life and the ideas that catch my attention.

- [Personal writing archive](writing/index.html)
- [GitHub](https://github.com/Ramesh72K)
- [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@ramesh_m/videos)