People
Current Graduate Students Advised
Yogesh Surkutwar
Exp. Degree/Date: Ph.D., May 2025
Research Area: Characterization and Modeling of Different Snow Attributes for Tire Performance Simulation.
Yogesh, a Ph.D. student in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Virginia Tech, is co-advised by Prof. Costin Untaroiu and Prof. Corina Sandu. His research focuses on advanced modeling of snow properties to enhance tire performance simulations, with a particular emphasis on accurately characterizing snow-tire interactions. With 14 years of extensive experience in Finite Element Analysis, Yogesh specializes in Vehicle and Powertrain simulations, including Noise, Vibration, Harshness (NVH), and Durability. His expertise spans developing innovative simulation techniques, optimizing multidisciplinary designs, and achieving high correlation between simulation and experimental results, contributing significantly to advancements in automotive simulation and snow mechanics.
Dhruvin Jasoliya
Exp. Degree/Date: Ph.D., May 2025
Research Area: Tire-soil Interaction numerical simulations with meshed and meshless methods, Material model characterization, and Inverse FE Analysis.
Dhruvin is a Ph.D. student in the Engineering Mechanics department co-advised by Prof. Costin Untaroiu. His current research focuses on the following areas and directions: Tire-soil Interaction numerical simulations with meshed and meshless methods, Material model characterization, and Inverse FE Analysis. He has 8 years of expertise in NVH and durability Simulation of Vehicles and Powertrains using Finite Element Analysis.
Elijah Buckland
Exp. Degree/Date: Ph.D., May 2028
Research Area: Injury Biomechanics
Elijah is a graduate student studying engineering mechanics while working under Prof. Costin Untaroiu. His work focuses on vehicle crash safety and computational injury biomechanics. Of particular interest is vehicle and roadside barrier interaction. While speed limits have increased in recent years, barriers and the testing criteria used to certify them have largely remained the same. To best understand the impact of this issue requires both statistical analysis of vehicle crash data and FE computational simulations. In the future, Elijah plans to use FE simulation to study how electric vehicles interact with roadside barriers.
Email : jnate@vt.edu
Nathaniel Jones
Exp. Degree/Date: Masters January 2025
Research Area: Injury biomechanics with a focus on human body modeling in aerospace environments
Nathaniel is a graduate student studying engineering mechanics while working under Prof. Costin Untaroiu. His work focuses on Injury biomechanics with a focus on human body modeling in aerospace environments.
MARTHA GIZAW
Exp. Degree/Date: MSc., May 2025
Research Area: Martha is a BEAM graduate student working with Dr. Costin Untaroiu. Her research is currently on optimizing the finite element analysis of existing rib fracture models.
Akeem Shokanbi
Exp. Degree/Date: Ph.D., May 2028
Research Area: Tire-Terrain Interaction. (Traction and Wear)
Akeem Shokanbi is a researcher in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech, working under the mentorship of Dr. Costin Untaroiu. His current research focuses on tire-soil interaction, combining advanced finite element modeling, meshless simulation techniques (SPH, ALE, EFG), and experimental validation to understand and predict the behavior of deformable terrains under dynamic loading conditions.
Maheep Bubna
Exp. Degree/Date: Ph.D., May 2028
Research Area: Tire-Snow interaction
Maheep Bubna is a passionate graduate researcher in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech, under the mentorship of Dr. Costin Untaroiu. His current research emphasizes tire-snow interaction, leveraging advanced computational modeling and experimental methods to enhance the understanding of these dynamic systems.
Before joining Virginia Tech, Maheep earned his Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical Engineering from MIT-World Peace University, where he was actively involved in engineering projects as a member of the BAJA SAE Collegiate Club, Team Piranha Racing. His undergraduate experiences, coupled with professional roles at esteemed organizations like Applus IDIADA, equipped him with expertise in finite element analysis (FEA), vibration analysis, and automotive engineering.
Beyond his academic pursuits, Maheep has a proven track record in leading interdisciplinary teams, mentoring peers, and contributing to innovative solutions in engineering challenges.