Russell V. Trader Career Development Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Associate Director of Research, Manufacturing Futures Institute
Courtesy Appointments, Biomedical Engineering, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering
Rahul Panat is an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. He received his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and his Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). After his Ph.D., Panat worked at Intel Corporation, Chandler, AZ, for a decade in the area of microprocessor manufacturing research and development (2004-2014). His work at Intel included research on next generation high density interconnects, thinning of Si, 3-D packaging, and lead-free and halogen-free ICs. He won several awards for his work at Intel, including an award for developing manufacturing processes for the world's first fully green IC chip in 2007. He moved to academics in 2014 and joined the Washington State University, Pullman, before moving to Carnegie Mellon in 2017.
At Carnegie Mellon, Panat works on micro-scale additive manufacturing and its applications to biomedical devices and energy materials. Specifically, his group works on high performance biosensors, biomonitoring devices, and brain-computer interfaces. The process development side focuses on using fundamentals of mechanics to enable new manufacturing processes that lead to structures with enhanced functionality. The application side focuses on bringing the advances in microfabrication to the field of biomedical engineering in order to create devices that can benefit the public health. He recently developed the fastest known COVID-19 antibody test with high sensitivity due to a unique, 3D printing technology and an electrochemical reaction.
Awards
2004 Ph.D., Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
1999 MS, Mechanical Engineering, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
1997 BS, Mechanical Engineering, Pune University
Lifewire
MechE’s Rahul Panat tells Lifewire, “Brain research aims to understand the communication between individual neurons or groups of neurons and can help us understand natural intelligence.”
CMU Engineering
Researchers pioneer the CMU Array—a customizable, 3D nano-printed, ultra-high-density microelectrode array platform for next-generation brain-computer interfaces to treat neurological disorders.
CMU Engineering
3D architectures of MXene can increase the energy storage density of lithium-ion batteries and supercapacitors, but there hasn’t been a reliable manufacturing method to build these configurations.
CMU Engineering
A team of mechanical engineering researchers has used additive manufacturing and nanotechnology to detect increasingly tiny levels of biomarkers.
CMU Engineering
Mihir Lovalekar found a way to combine his interest in neurology with his major in mechanical engineering by getting involved with undergraduate research and the CMU Array.
Engineering faculty Peter Adams, Elizabeth Dickey, Carlee Joe-Wong, Pulkit Grover, Alan McGaughey, Rahul Panat, and Douglas Weber were awarded professorship titles in February and March 2021.
Materials Today
MechE’s Rahul Panat’s biosensing platform for rapid COVID-19 detection was featured in an article in Materials Today.
MedicalExpo
MechE’s Rahul Panat was quoted in MedicalExpo on a rapid COVID test that he and his team developed.
CMU Engineering
Carnegie Mellon University researchers reveal fastest known COVID-19 antibody test with high sensitivity due to a unique, 3D printing technology and an electrochemical reaction.
CMU Engineering
Whether CMU engineering teams are given a week or a whole semester, their projects are always innovative and exciting.
Finding Genius Podcast
MechE’s Rahul Panat was a guest on the Finding Genius Podcast; he discussed his work in microscale additive manufacturing, microelectronics, and 3D printing.
3dprintingindustry.com
MechE’s Rahul Panat is developing a new class of neural probes to map the brain. Current probes are fragile, expensive, and lack the needed resolution. Panat proposes using an aerosol jet printing technique to create high-density neural probes, which would increase access to brain tissue, allow quick prototyping, and open new avenues of treatment. For this project, he received a $1.95 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.