About Us > Faculty & Staff > Faculty > Manisha Rane-Fondacaro

Professional Background:

• Materials Scientist, General Electric- Global Research Center, Niskayuna, NY (2001-2002).
• Post Doctoral Researcher, University of California at Davis, CA (2000).
• Guest Scientist, Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH, Germany (1998-1999).
• Ph.D. (Materials Science), Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India (1998).

• Was interviewed for an article for Nature about job market in nanotechnology. "Small World, Big Hopes" by Myrna Watanabe, Vol. 426, p.478-479 (2003).
• One US patent (2004).
• Invention Fulcrum of Progress- GE Award to Inventors (2002).
• Six Sigma Certification, GE-GRC (2002).

• Synthesis and characterization of nano sized particles with enhanced magnetic properties suitable for perpendicular magnetic recording application.
• High temperature corrosion studies of ceramics with basic coal slags generated in coal gasification atmosphere.
• High temperature thermochemistry of perovskites: measurement of energetics of crystalline oxides and correlating the thermodynamic properties with chemical bonding, structural parameters, order-disorder, phase transition etc.
• Fuel cells- SOFC and PEM: development of novel materials and microstructural architecture for enhancing the catalytic activity of electrodes, and minimizing the interfacial reactions.
• Luminescence phosphors and scintillator detector materials: materials development, and microstructural & optical characterization.
• Superconductors: enhancing YBCO performance through fundamental process improvements, modeling, and characterization.
• Power electronic devices: reverse engineering of IGBT's and MOSFET's to understand chip configuration. Development of packaging of high voltage, high current power modules for applications at cryogenic temperatures.

• Development of novel non-stoichiometric substituted hexaferrites with enhanced magnetization and appropriate microstructural characteristics.
• Delineated the high temperature corrosion mechanism of ceramics in slag based on the equilibrium dynamics - dissolution, phase formation, basicity and ceramic microstructure.
• Investigated the energetics of systems using high temperature transposed temperature drop calorimetry and drop solution calorimetry and thermochemical cycles to calculate the heats of formation and mixing.Correlation of microstructure of superconducting thin films with electrical properties.