Dr. Subbarama Kousik Suraparaju

Dr. Subbarama Kousik Suraparaju is an Associate Professor (Research) in the Division of Mechanical Engineering at Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences (Deemed to be University), Coimbatore, India. His research encompasses solar thermal systems, solar desalination, phase change materials, nanofluids, photovoltaic–thermal systems, thermal management, carbon capture and utilisation, and green hydrogen.

He earned his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (Thermal–Solar Energy) from the National Institute of Technology Puducherry, supported by an Institute Ph.D. Fellowship (HTRA) from the Ministry of Education. He subsequently completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah, where he worked on nanocomposite thermal fluids and advanced thermal energy storage systems. He has established research collaborations with institutions in Malaysia, Singapore, the UAE, New Zealand, Egypt, Morocco, and Taiwan, working across the areas of thermal engineering, energy storage, renewable energy, and water technologies.

He has been named among the World’s Top 2% of Scientists by Elsevier–Stanford from 2024 to date. He has authored more than 100 publications and holds four granted Indian patents in the areas of solar desalination and solar drying. He was recently selected as one of only 30 participants worldwide for the International Joint Research and Training Workshop on Environmentally Green Technology for Sustainable Development Goals and Net Zero Emission, hosted by National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), Taiwan, and funded by Taiwan’s National Science and Technology Council.

His funded research includes a project on nanocomposite phase change materials for photovoltaic–thermal systems (MYR 40,000, Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah) and a study on the thermophysical and rheological behaviour of nanoparticle-enhanced heat transfer fluids (MYR 40,000, Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah), along with an earlier Solar Energy Laboratory seed grant of ₹6.5 lakhs at Sri Vasavi Engineering College. He also contributes to the international scholarly community as an Academic Editor for Scientific Reports and PLOS ONE and has reviewed manuscripts for more than 70 peer-reviewed journals.

At Karunya, he serves as the Research Committee Coordinator for the Division of Mechanical Engineering, alongside his involvement in research-led teaching and doctoral supervision. He currently guides doctoral students working on carbon capture, utilisation and storage; phase change materials with IoT-enabled battery thermal management; solar-driven green hydrogen production; thermal energy storage for solar cooking; and assistive medical devices. He has delivered numerous invited talks and lectures on topics including solar energy and desalination, sustainability and the energy–water nexus, and clean energy innovation at institutions across India.

His work has earned him several national and international awards. He is a Solar Chartered Engineer certified by the Solar Energy Society of India and a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the Institution of Engineers, India (IEI), the Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE), the Institute of Scholars (InSc), and the International Association of Engineers (IAEng).