Biography
Santanu De is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at IIT Kanpur, where he holds the Pandit Ramchandra Dwivedi Chair. His work spans computational and experimental combustion, from sub-filter mixing models to pilot-scale test rigs.
He received his PhD in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, after an M.Tech from IIT Kanpur and a B.E. from Jalpaiguri Government Engineering College. Before returning to IIT Kanpur in 2014 he worked as a Scientist/Engineer at ISRO's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre and as a research associate at Michigan Technological University and the University of Stuttgart.
His group develops LES-based turbulent combustion models (Multiple Mapping Conditioning, Eulerian Stochastic Fields, flamelet methods) in OpenFOAM, and operates a time-resolved PIV/PLIF facility for gas turbine and afterburner flames. On the clean-energy side, the group designed and operates a pilot-scale fluidized bed gasifier for high-ash Indian coal and a fluidized bed pyrolyser for refinery oily sludge, develops membranes for hydrogen separation from syngas, and co-developed a 100 kWe recuperated micro gas turbine with industry.
He is a recipient of the SERB Early Career Research Award and the AICTE National Doctoral Fellowship.
- 2024 –Professor, IIT KanpurPandit Ramchandra Dwivedi Chair Professor (since October 2025)
- 2019 – 2024Associate Professor, IIT Kanpur
- 2014 – 2019Assistant Professor, IIT Kanpur
- 2013 – 2014Research AssociateUniversity of Stuttgart
- 2011 – 2013Research AssociateMichigan Technological University
- 2011PhD, Aerospace Engineering*IISc Bangalore
- 2004 – 2005Scientist/Engineer SCLPSC, ISRO
- 2004M.Tech, Mechanical EngineeringIIT Kanpur
- 2002B.E., Mechanical EngineeringJGEC, North Bengal University
* Thesis defended in February 2012.