photo of Rajesh Bhaskaran

Rajesh Bhaskaran

Swanson Director of Engineering Simulation
Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Upson Hall, Room 419

Biography

Dr. Bhaskaran's work seeks to promote the "democratization of simulation" through effective integration of simulation tools into engineering education. He directs the Swanson lab and has helped introduce industry-standard simulation tools into Cornell courses covering fluid mechanics, heat transfer, solid mechanics and numerical analysis. He has led the development of simcafe.org as an online portal for learning and teaching finite-element and CFD simulations. SimCafe is used worldwide in courses as well as for self-paced learning by students and industry professionals. He has developed a unified methodology for using simulation in disparate lecture-based and lab courses. This methodology helps students learn to approach simulations like an expert would rather than just pushing buttons and accepting results at face value. Dr. Bhaskaran's professional interests include: Engineering applications of simulation technology, reliable deployment of advanced simulation by generalist engineers and conceptual change in learners using simulations. He has organized two international workshops on simulation in engineering curricula. He offers a widely-used free online course on hands-on engineering simulations using Ansys.

Selected Publications

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Selected Awards and Honors

  • Dennis G. Shepherd Teaching Award (College of Engineering, Cornell University) 2017
  • Selected to participate in Frontiers of Engineering Education symposium that brings together early-career faculty members who are developing innovative educational approaches (National Academy of Engineering) 2011
  • Academic Scholarship (State of Iowa Black Belt Association) 1994
  • Honor Society (Phi Kappa Phi) 1991
  • Premium for Academic Excellence (PACE) award (Iowa State University) 1990
  • Hindustan Aeronautics Limited award (for graduating first in class) (Indian Institute of Technology, Madras) 1989

Education

  • B.Tech. (India) (Aerospace Engineering), Indian Institute of Technology, 1989
  • M.S. (Aerospace engineering), Iowa State University, 1992
  • Ph.D. (Aerospace engineering), Iowa State University, 1996

Websites

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