Research Assistant Professorship (RAP)

Project Title: Evidence-based digital surface enhancement for in-situ roughness monitoring of complex space rocket/fuel injector components using artificial intelligence techniques

Arun works as a Research Assistant Professor (RAP) at the Rolls-Royce@NTU Corporate Lab, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Through cutting-edge technology development and commercialization, he contributes to the Singapore 2030 Advanced Manufacturing Hub (AMH) and Jurong Innovation District (JID) initiatives. In addition, Arun is the IPT-Lead of the Manufacturing Technologies programme at Rolls-Royce and manages several projects, researchers, interns, and students.

Arun holds several professional memberships, including the European society for precision engineering and nanotechnology (euspen), project management institute (PMI) Singapore chapter etc. He is an active young member of the institute of mechanical engineers (IMechE) and works with student chapters to develop component engineers at NTU.

Arun’s doctoral work includes the development of a novel post-process surface finishing technique for additively manufactured complex internal passages in aerospace components. He utilized cavitation (a phenomenon that was stated uncontrollable and destructive in the marine industry), harnessed its intensity through a novel machine design, and constructively used it for surface engineering of hard-to-machine materials, including Titanium, Inconel, and Haynes. The process is deemed sustainable as water is the primary working fluid with just a 1.0 % addition of abrasives (while conventional techniques use 60-80 % abrasives). His other research work includes developing and modeling the intelligent vibratory polishing process of 6-stage blisks, additive manufacturing topology optimization and thermal simulations of aircraft electrical engines, etc. In collaboration with the Singapore Centre for 3D Printing (SC3DP), his past research work includes multimaterial polymer, fiber 3D printing of lightweight structures, dynamic materials testing, and non-destructive inspection of crack initiation in complex lattice structures.

In his research portfolio, Arun has several awards, patents, journals, conference proceedings, books, and posters related to advanced manufacturing technologies. In addition, he also serves as a guest editor and reviewer in several international journals, including Additive Manufacturing, Powder Technology, the Journal of Manufacturing Processes, Materials, Coatings, etc.