Dr. Rohit Karnik is currently an Associate Professor with the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He joined MIT in October 2006 as Postdoctoral Associate and has been serving as a faculty in Mechanical Engineering at MIT since 2007.
Dr. Karnik completed his B. Tech. in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Bombay in the year 2002, which was followed by an M.S. in 2004 and Ph.D. in 2006 from the University of California, Berkeley. From his undergrad days at IIT Bombay, he particularly remembers working at nights on their ‘bottle filling’ machine for the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) Student Design Competition, while doing regular classwork during the day. “I also have many fond
memories of my friends and teachers at IIT Bombay, who played an important role in shaping my character and destiny,” he added. Dr. Karnik was awarded the Institute Silver Medal by IIT Bombay in the year 2002.
Today, Dr. Karnik is globally known for his work in the area of micro- and nanofluidics for applications in health care and energy systems. He has developed devices for control of nanoscale fluid flows including the nanofluidic diode, transistor, and sensors. His group has advanced novel nanoporous membrane materials for water filtration and gas separations, and obtained fundamental insights into nanoscale fluid flows. They have moreover, developed new technologies for microfluidic separation and analysis of cells, and have created microfluidic devices to better control and optimize nanoparticles for drug delivery. Dr. Karnik has furthermore, played a crucial role in the development of the Micro and Nanoengineering Laboratory class for undergraduate students at MIT.
Dr. Karnik has delivered invited lectures in different parts of the Globe and has over 50 research papers to his credit. He has filed over 10 patent applications and has supervised numerous theses at undergraduate, masters and doctoral levels. He is a proud recipient of several awards and honours including the Best Poster Award in the MEMS Division, Nanotechnology Forum, ASME Congress (2013); Department of Energy Early Career Award (2012); Keenan Award for Innovation in Undergraduate Education (2011); Grand Prize in the Nanotechnology Forum, ASME Congress (2010); National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2010); D’Arbeloff Career Development Assistant Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2008); and National Talent Search Scholarship, Government of India (1996), to mention a few. Besides Teaching, Dr. Karnik takes keen interest in photography, astronomy and traveling.