(Saran) Saranarayanan Ramachandran is a Post-doctoral Research Associate (PDRA) in the Department of Materials. His primary research interest is on achieving high fidelity joining of dissimilar materials by using advanced material joining (bonding/welding) techniques. In addition to this, he is particularly interested in material characterisation using a wide range of techniques that include in-situ Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), in-situ time-resolved synchrotron X-ray imaging, and Digital Image Correlation (DIC) to investigate the structure-property relationship of dissimilar joints.

Saran obtained his PhD from the University of Southampton (2020) where he was awarded a Rayleigh award (worth of £40000 per year) to pursue his PhD with a full scholarship covering international tuition fees and stipend. During his PhD research, he developed high fidelity imaging procedures to identify the relationship between the material microstructure and mechanical behaviour of friction stir welds. Saran completed his both M.Eng. (2014) and B.Eng. (2012) at Anna University, Chennai, India.

• Ph.D. University of Southampton, Advisors: Professor Janice Barton and Professor Phillipa Reed (2016 - 2020)
• M.Eng. Anna University (2012 - 2014)
• B.Eng. Anna University (2008 - 2012)

• Self-propagating high temperature synthesis
• Materials science mainly on metals and alloys
• Materials performance at extreme conditions
• Synchrotron X-ray imaging
• Advanced electron microscopy techniques
• Structure-property relationships of materials
• In-situ materials characterisation techniques
• Materials joining (focus on welding of dissimilar materials)
• Additive manufacturing
• Experimental mechanics

1. Professor Janice Barton, University of Bristol, United Kingdom

2. Professor Philippa Reed, University of Southampton, United Kingdom

3. Dr. A.K. Lakshminarayanan, SSN College of Engineering, Chennai, India

Postdoc project title: Developing Quasi-ambient bonding to enable cost-effective high-temperature Pb-free solder interconnects

Funding agency: EPSRC (Grant no: EP/R031711/1)

Research group: Professor Sarah Haigh and Dr Wajira Mirihanage, Department of Materials, The University of Manchester

Affiliated Research group: Professor Sarah Haigh and Dr Wajira Mirihanage, Department of Materials, The University of Manchester