Kripa K Varanasi

Professor

Department
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Technology Areas
Chemicals & Materials: Catalysis & Synthesis, Nanotechnology & Nanomaterials, Composites, Fabrics & Textiles, Polymers, Metals, Ceramics / Environmental Engineering: Carbon Capture, Sustainability & Recycling, Water Treatment / Energy & Distribution: Photovoltaics, Wind, Electrochemical Devices, Geothermal, Distribution, Energy Storage / Agriculture & Food: Delivery, Nutrition / Industrial Engineering & Automation: Manufacturing & Equipment, Autonomous Systems, Logistics / Drug Delivery: Microparticles & Nanoparticles / Therapeutics: Proteins & Antibodies, Small Molecules, Vaccines / Biotechnology: Biomedical Devices & Systems, Cell Separation, Biomanufacturing, Synthetic Biology, Sensors & Monitoring / Drug Discovery and Research Tools: Cell Culture, Cell Interrogation / Biomaterials & Bioelectronics: Medical Device Coatings / Electronics & Photonics: Semiconductors / Sensing & Imaging: Chemical & Radiation Sensing, Optical Sensing / Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) / Diagnostics: Assays

Background and Experience

Kripa K. Varanasi is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT. He received his B.Tech from IIT Madras, India and his SM (ME and EECS) and Ph.D from MIT. Prior to joining MIT as a faculty member, Prof. Varanasi was a lead researcher and project leader at the GE Global Research Center. At GE he received many awards for his work including Best Patent, Best Technology Project and Leadership Award. At MIT, the focus of his work is in understanding the physico-chemical phenomena at interfaces and developing novel materials, devices, and products that can dramatically enhance performance in energy, water, agriculture, transportation, medical, and consumer devices. He is passionate about entrepreneurship and translating technologies from lab to market.

Awards and Honors

  • Co-Founded Companies - LiquiGlide, Dropwise, Infinite Cooling, and Everon24
  • Named to Time Magazine’s “Best Inventions of the Year”
  • Named to Forbes Magazine’s “Best Inventions of the Year”
  • First Prize at DOE’s National Cleantech University Prize
  • First Prize at Rice Business Plan Competition
  • First Prize at Harvard Business School Energy & Environment Start-up Competition
  • First Prize at MIT-100K Competition
  • First Prize at MassChallenge
  • NSF Career Award
  • DARPA Young Faculty Award
  • SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award
  • ASME Bergles-Rohsenow Heat Transfer Award
  • Boston Business Journal’s 40 Under 40
  • ASME Gustus L. Larson Memorial Award (Outstanding Achievements in Mechanical Engineering)
  • APS Milton van Dyke Award
  • MIT Graduate Student Council’s Frank E. Perkins Award (Excellence in Graduate Advising)

Technologies

Reducing Pesticide Waste with Oil Cloaking of Droplets

Exclusively Licensed Technology / Case number: #23681
Kripa K Varanasi / Simon Rufer / Sreedath Panat / Vishnu Jayaprakash
Technology Areas: Chemicals & Materials / Environmental Engineering / Industrial Engineering & Automation

Liquid-Encapsulating Surfaces, Methods of Making, and Devices Incorporating the Same

Technology / Case number: #15055
Kripa K Varanasi / Ernesto Reza-Garduno Cabello / Rajeev Dhiman / Jonathan Smith
Technology Areas: Chemicals & Materials / Environmental Engineering / Industrial Engineering & Automation
License

Enhanced Fog Collection with Corona Discharge

Exclusively Licensed Technology / Case number: #18026
Kripa K Varanasi / Maher Damak / Seyed Reza Mahmoudi
Technology Areas: Environmental Engineering / Industrial Engineering & Automation

Polyelectrolyte Formulations for Increased Retention of Sprays

Exclusively Licensed Technology / Case number: #20224Q
Kripa K Varanasi / Maher Damak / Nasim Hyder
Technology Areas: Chemicals & Materials
Impact Areas: Advanced Materials

Controlled Liquid/Solid Mobility Using External Fields on Lubricant- Impregnated Surfaces

Technology / Case number: #16042
Kripa K Varanasi / Karim Khalil / Seyed Reza Mahmoudi
Technology Areas: Chemicals & Materials / Industrial Engineering & Automation
Impact Areas: Advanced Materials
License

Spray Retention Using Pre-Mixed Polyelectrolyte Solutions

Exclusively Licensed Technology / Case number: #17877
Kripa K Varanasi / Maher Damak / Seyed Reza Mahmoudi / Nasim Hyder
Technology Areas: Chemicals & Materials

Enabling the Injectability of Concentrated Drug Formulations and Solid Particles via Droplet Lubrication

Exclusively Licensed Technology / Case number: #20744
Kripa K Varanasi / Maxime Costalonga / Vishnu Jayaprakash
Technology Areas: Drug Delivery / Therapeutics
Impact Areas: Healthy Living

Liquid-Encapsulated Rare-Earth Based Ceramics

Technology / Case number: #15510
Kripa K Varanasi / Gisele Azimi / Jonathan Smith / Adam Paxson
Technology Areas: Chemicals & Materials
License

Eccentricity Mitigation for Coaxial Lubrication

Exclusively Licensed Technology / Case number: #23600
Kripa K Varanasi / Simon Rufer / Vishnu Jayaprakash
Technology Areas: Industrial Engineering & Automation

A Dual-Barreled Medical Injector

Exclusively Licensed Technology / Case number: #23529
Kripa K Varanasi / Vishnu Jayaprakash
Technology Areas: Biotechnology / Therapeutics
Impact Areas: Healthy Living

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