EMIT Lab

The EMIT lab (Engineering MaterIals for Transformative technologies) at CMU run by Sneha Narra focuses on advancing metal additive manufacturing knowledge to manufacture light-weight organic designs and utilize novel, advanced materials. At a scientific level, our group studies the fundamentals of additive manufacturing processes, investigates the resulting material microstructure and properties, and develops process design paradigms. Our group’s mission is to lower the carbon footprint, primarily in aerospace, automobile, and energy industries. This will be achieved either through reduced material and/or operational usage or through enabling transformative technologies, such as nuclear fusion and high-efficiency turbine systems.

Faculty

Sneha Prabha Narra

Sneha Prabha Narra

Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering

Courtesy appointment, Materials Science & Engineering

Sneha Narra’s academic training and experience has led to the establishment of the EMIT lab, working at the intersection of mechanical and materials science and engineering and leveraging data-driven methods to expand advanced manufacturing capabilities. As an instructor, Narra’s goal is to help her students learn effectively in a comfortable environment and spark interest in them to explore outside the classroom. Narra is passionate about mentoring and participates in outreach activities, educates students about professional development opportunities, and provides opportunities to conduct research in interdisciplinary topics.

Office
304 Scaife Hall
Email
snarra@andrew.cmu.edu
Google Scholar
Sneha Prabha Narra

Labs and facilities

NextManufacturing Center houses various fusion-based metal additive manufacturing equipment that our lab uses in our research work.

We utilize electron microscopy and x-ray facilities at the Materials Characterization Facility (MCF), to conduct material characterization work.

We have robotic wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) equipment in our lab at Mill 19. In the following video, Lincoln Electric’s WAAM machine deposits weld beads in a layer-by-layer manner to build 3D structures. WAAM allows engineers to produce large 3D structures relatively fast compared to alternate additive manufacturing processes and traditional manufacturing processes. Builds on the scale in the video, around 1ft x 1ft x 0.5 ft footprint, take around 15-20 hours when using a qualified process. In the video below, three build layers are shown at an increased speed.

Projects

Research team

Jiangce Chen

Jiangce Chen

Post-Doctorate

Email
jiangcec@andrew.cmu.edu
Mikhail Khrenov

Mikhail Khrenov

Doctorate

Email
mkhrenov@andrew.cmu.edu
Justin Miner

Justin Miner

Doctorate

Email
jpminer@andrew.cmu.edu
Gala Cassiel Solis

Gala Cassiel Solis

Doctorate

Co-Advisor
Jonathan Malen
Email
gsolis@andrew.cmu.edu
William Frieden Templeton

William Frieden Templeton

Doctorate

Email
wfrieden@andrew.cmu.edu
Nathan Wassermann

Nathan Wassermann

Doctorate

Co-Advisor
Alan McGaughey
Email
nwasserm@andrew.cmu.edu
Colin Ancalmo

Colin Ancalmo

Masters

Email
cancalmo@andrew.cmu.edu
Kevin Chou headshot

Kevin Chou

Masters

Email
kevincho@andrew.cmu.edu
Lauren Fitzwater

Lauren Fitzwater

Undergraduate

Email
lgf@andrew.cmu.edu

Join us

If you are interested in joining the EMIT Lab at CMU, please read the appropriate section below.

Undergraduates: Projects are advertised through the MechE newsletter as they are available. Please refer to this information for opportunities to join the lab or email Dr. Narra with the tag [Undergrad] in the subject if you are interested in whether new projects may be becoming available.

Graduate students: All graduate students (MS or Ph.D.) will only be considered through the official CMU application system. Please apply online. If you are an admitted MS student and would like to learn about available projects please refer to the MS Canvas page or email Dr. Narra with the tag [MS] in the subject.

Postdocs: No postdoc positions are available at this time.

We look forward to hearing from you!

President Biden Visit

On January 28th, our group participated in the Mill-19 facility tour and demonstrated the wire arc additive manufacturing process in our lab in collaboration with Lincoln Electric Additive Solutions. We discussed the benefits of metal additive manufacturing with the President of the United States. We are fortunate to be part of the additive manufacturing community and honored to represent our field during the President of the United States’ visit to CMU.

Will Templeton, Sneha Narra, President Biden

(Left - Right) William Templeton, Sneha Narra, President Biden. See President Biden’s tweet about the visit.

Courses

Course Course Name Location Units Semester Offered
24-632 Special Topics: Additive Manufacturing Processing and Product Development Pittsburgh 12 Fall
24-633 Additive Manufacturing Laboratory Pittsburgh 12 Spring
24-651 Material Selection for Mechanical Engineers Pittsburgh 12 Spring

Graduate students currently advised at WPI

  • Hanshen Yu, Ph.D. student, June 2020-present, co-advised with Professor Jamal Yagoobi

Media mentions

CMU Engineering

These defects are not to be mistaken as scratches

Shrinkage porosity, a common defect in metal castings, has been identified in laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing.

CMU Engineering

Mill 19 growing a digital backbone

Digital backbone at Mill 19 will make data readily available for advancing digital twin and AI-related manufacturing research.

CMU Engineering

CMU to Lead NASA Space Technology Research Institute

A new NASA Space Technology Research Institute (STRI) led by Carnegie Mellon University seeks to shorten the cycle required to design, manufacture, and test parts that can withstand the conditions of space travel through constructing models for qualification and certification.

CMU Engineering

A sweet way to teach kids about manufacturing

Sneha Prabha Narra uses hands-on activities to introduce engineering and additive manufacturing concepts to local grade school students.

CMU Engineering

Biden calls for investment in American innovation

President Biden touted the importance of advanced manufacturing innovation, robotics, 3D printing, and artificial intelligence during his recent visit to Mill 19.

Mechanical Engineering

Metal 3D printing across scales

New faculty member Sneha Prabha Narra is interested in utilizing recent advances in in-situ monitoring, process modeling, and fundamentals of welding to advance the use of wire arc additive manufacturing for new applications and materials.

Alumni

Graduate students

  • Tharun Reddy, master's student
  • Ryan Utz, master's student
  • Yao Xu, Ph.D. student, Aug 2018 – May 2022, co-advised with Professor Brajendra Mishra, currently working for Mattson Technology
  • Mahya Shahabi, Aug 2019 – May 2021, currently a Ph.D. student at WPI
  • Prajwal Bharadwaj, January 2021 – May 2021, currently a Ph.D. student at WPI
  • Krishnan Giridharan, October 2019 – May 2021, currently an associate engineer at Rivian
  • Dylan McKillip,  August 2019 – May 2020, currently a test engineer at Brooks Automation

Undergraduate students

  • Ian MacLachlan
  • John Trainor, aerospace engineering class of 2021 (WPI), currently a design engineer at Triton Space Technologies, LLC
  • Nathaniel Rutkowski, aerospace engineering class of 2021 (WPI), currently a propulsion engineer at Firehawk Aerospace
  • Kaitlin Barron, mechanical engineering class of 2022 (WPI)
  • Shannon O’Connor, mechanical engineering class of 2022 (WPI), NASA LaRC summer intern (additive manufacturing research), Summer and Fall 2021
  • Caitlin Kean, mechanical engineering class of 2022 (WPI)
  • Nathan Maldonado, mechanical engineering class of 2022 (WPI)
  • Daniel Marsh, mechanical engineering class of 2022 (WPI)
  • Adrianna Yuen, mechanical engineering class of 2024 (WPI)
  • Samantah Castellano, mechanical engineering class of 2024 (CMU)
  • Meenakshi Sundrum, mechanical engineering, engineering and public policy, class of 2024 (CMU)
  • Brenna Slomsky, mechanical engineering class of 2024 (CMU)
  • Charlotte Ng, materials science and engineering, engineering and public policy, class of 2024 (CMU)
  • Ian Maclachlan